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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



PREFACE. 



IN writing my late book, Christicmity in the United 
States from the Earliest Settlement to the Present 
Time,^ mucli material came into my hands which could 
not be appropriately introduced into that volume, but 
which is of value to American citizens. 

Yaluable articles in the editorial and other columns 
of the Christian Union, in May, June, and July, 1888, 
have rendered much aid to the author. 

The recent amtation of the Cathohc school contest, 
in Boston and elsewhere, prompted me to enter into 
the discussion, for the benefit of my own congregation, 
and also for the public at large. The result is this 
little book, which I hope will help to an understanding 
of the questions involved ; questions soon more fully to 
engross public attention. 

The discussion, it is hoped, will commend itself to 
all as candid and fair, if not as sharp and severe as 

* Phillips & Hunt, 805 Broadway, New York city. 800 pages, Bvo, 
1888. 



4 Pkeface. 

some M^ould desire. Yet it is not wanting in positive- 
ness. 

There are points of radical divergence, indicating 
that two peoples are struggling in the womb of the 
nation. Vituperation and abuse cannot settle these 
points, but may postpone the settlement. In some 
localities the contest is hot. The author has decided 
views, and he does not intend to put either shavings 
or kerosene upon the fire, but rather the solid fuel of 
facts and principles. 

Many American citizens do not yet seem to realize 
the need of awakening to these matters. The history, 
the expansion, and present proportions of this contest 
have, therefore, been sketched at considerable length, 
that all eyes may be fully opened. Wliile the author 
does not share in the alarm of many good people, as to 
the country at large, he does, nevertheless, think that 
there are localities (and the number will soon be in- 
creased) where the case is urgent. Our greatest fear 
is from the political maneuvering of Rome. 

Daniel Doechester. 

Boston, Mass. (Roslindale P. 0.), Nov. 1 0, 1 888. 



CONTENTS. 



PAGE 

Preface 3 

PART I. 
History of the Contest. 

Section 1. Its Inception 9 

" 2. The Expansion 20 

" 3. The Bible in Schools 40 

" 4. Attempts at Compromise 55 

' ' 5. Attempts to get Public School Funds 63 

' ' 6. Constitutional Amendments 81 

" 7. Recent Papal Acts and Utterances enforcing 

the Parochial School System 94 

*' 8. Statistical Exhibits of the Parochial Schools 

of Romanism in the United States. ........ 120 

PART II. 
Questions Involved in the Contest. 

1. As to the Right and Duty of tlie State to Educate. . . 135 
3. As to Religious Instruction in the Public Schools. . . 150 
3. As to a Parochial School System for all Parties 171 



6 Contents. 

PAGE 

4. As to whether tlie Public School Funds can be 

Divided 186 

5. As to whether, as a Matter of Comity, we ought not 

to find some way to Divide the School Funds. . . 204 

6. Is a Compromise Possible ? 211 

7. Can both Parties patronize the Public Schools Harmo- 

niously, and on what Basis ? 224 

8. What may we expect Romanists to do in the Future, 

and how shall we Preserve our School System ? . 238 

9. As to the Pretensions of Rome as an Educator 243 

(1.) The Historic Record of Rome in Respect to Edu- 
cation 244 

(2.) Rome's Record in Respect to Education in the 

United States 255 

(3.) The Quality of the Education afforded by the Ro- 
man Catholic Church , 258 

(4.) The Roman Catholic Church does not Believe in 

the Education of the Masses 291 

10. Has Romanism Adopted a More Enlightened and 

Liberal Policy in our Times and in our Country ?. . 295 



PART I. 



HISTORY OF THE CONTEST. 



PART I. 
History of the Contest. 



SECTION L 
Its Inception* 

A SKETCH of the history of the Eoman Catholic 
school contest will help American citizens to 
more fully understand the character and proportions 
of this great struggle, and the unyielding spirit with 
which it is pushed. The struggle had its origin in 
the city of New York, and Bishop Hughes was its 
first conspicuous Roman Catholic champion. 

Many may be surprised to learn that the first ap- 
peal for a division of the public school funds in this 
country was made by a Protestant denomination, and 
the first sectarian division actually made was to that 
body. The other Protestant Churches, instead of ob- 
jecting, attempted to obtain their share of the public 
school funds. At that early period, and back into the 
last century, it was a common thing for legislative 
bodies to grant pecuniary aid to the higher educational 



10 Romanism vs. The Public School System. 

institutions, such as academies and colleges, many of 
which had grants of public lands. These were not 
aided out of public school funds raised by taxation, 
but they were denominational institutions and were 
officially aided. 

There is one instance in which specially-designated 
school funds were divided in the interest of a sectarian 
school of a Protestant denomination, the other Prot- 
estant bodies assenting, and even desiring to receive 
their share also. This occurred before the Roman 
Catholic school contest came on, and before the 
American people saw what it might lead to. That 
very act was the means of opening the eyes of Prot- 
estants to see the practical results of such a course — 
the destruction of the common school system. It was 
this act which Bishop Hughes, of N^ew York, cited 
when he made his first demand for a part of the 
school money for Roman Catholic schools. 

It should be premised that in the early part of this 
century, prior to the establishment of the common 
school system for the State of New York, which oc- 
curred in 1812, the raising and distribution of school 
funds was by methods very different from those of 
more recent years, and more irregular. The whole 
matter varied greatly in different counties and local- 
ities, many things being left optional. In the city of 
New York the school funds could then be distributed 



Inception of the Contest. 11 

among certain schools and societies named hj the 
Legislature, and such incorporated religious societies 
as then supported or might thereafter establish charity 
schools. This system was defective on account of the 
inequality of the distribution, the absence of inspec- 
tion and accountability, and a liability to abuse. 

It was while this system was in operation that an 
organization which for about a half a century per- 
formed a most beneficent work was formed in the 
city of 'New York. 

The New York Public School Society 

was an association of benevolent gentlemen, formed in 
1805, for the education of poor and neglected children. 
In its schools probably a half million of children re- 
ceived the elements of a sound education connected 
with instruction in the holy Scriptures. It was largely 
aided by the School Fund of the State. Besides edu- 
cating poor and forsaken children, it performed two 
other important services — it trained up many excellent 
teachers and watched over the general interests of the 
educational cause. This latter function brought it 
before the public on many very important occa- 
sions. Its annual expenditures amounted to about 
$130,000. 

The first ripple of disturbance in the management 
of this society, it should be said, came from the 



12 Romanism vs. The Public School System. 

Protestant denominations, when the Baptist Bethel 
Church, in 1823, sought and obtained its share of the 
public money for its schools. An agitation was 
awakened all the steps of which need not now be dis- 
tinctly traced ; but the question went to the Legisla- 
ture in some form, where it was argued, and a pro- 
vision enacted that once in every three years the 
Common Council might name such schools and insti- 
tutions as should be entitled to receive the school 
moneys, the city Corporation being still responsible to 
the State for the faithful application of its funds. 
The disbursement of the greater part of the funds 
was intrusted to the Public School Society, incorpo- 
rated for the purpose, which, in addition to the public 
moneys, obtained other loans from life membership 
fees, etc. By the act of the Legislature, the question 
of a division of the funds was to be decided by the 
Board of the City Corporation. That body appointed 
a committee to hear the parties to the case. It is re- 
markable that the Episcopalians, Methodists, Baptists, 
and Roman Catholics, at that time, sought for a par- 
ticipation in the School Fund, just as the Roman 
Catholics have since done. After the hearing, the com- 
mittee made a report which settled the principle for 
the time, that sectarian schools were not to be 
sustained or aided from the public money. This de- 
cision seems to have " convinced every body of the 



Inception of the Contest. 13 

impolicy and injustice of such a division of the school 
money, except the Roman Catholics." 

In 1831 the " Roman Catholic Benevolent Society " 
succeeded in obtaining, through the " Sisters of 
Charity," the grant of $1,500, which has been annually 
made by the Corporation of the city for a long series 
of years, for the orphan asylum schools under their 
care, notwithstanding the opposition of the Public 
School Society. This, however, did not satisfy the 
Roman Catholics, 

Up to 1840 the Public School Society had estab- 
lished about one hundred schools ; but the Catholics 
continually complained that Protestant ideas were more 
or less inculcated in the public schools. The Roman- 
ists had then had a considerable number of parochial 
schools in operation for, probably, twenty years, and 
the number was constantly increasing. 

It is correctly claimed by intelligent Roman Cath- 
lics that this controversy did not begin with them, 
but Math the Baptist Bethel Church already referred 
to. They also justly claim that certain influential 
Protestants, at the opening of this controversy, gave 
them encouragment. Among these the distinguished 
Rev. Dr. Eliphalet Nott, for a very long period pres- 
ident of Union College, at Schenectady, is cited as one 
who was open in the advocacy of a denominational 
school system, by which each denomination would 



14 EoMANiSM VS. The Public School System. 

share, in due proportion to its pupils in schools, in the 
common school fund. He is said to have even advo- 
cated the providing of schools for children of different 
nationalities. 

Eev. De. Nott and Hon. William H. Sewaed. 

Dr. JSTott had been the tutor, and was the life-long 
friend and adviser, of Hon. William H. Seward, and 
freque%tlj expressed his views on the school question 
to that eminent statesman, during his occupancy of 
the gubernatorial chair of the State of New York. 

Governor Seward, it is said, on one occasion re- 
quested Dr. l^ott to reduce his views to writing, 
promising to embody them in a message to the Leg- 
islature and to recommend their adoption. This he 
did in 1839, before Bishop Hughes had entered into 
the contest, and the Governor, in his message to the 
Legislature in January, 1840, presented the subject 
in the following remarkable passages : 

Although our system of public education is well 
endowed, and has been eminently successful, there is 
yet occasion for the benevolent and enlightened action 
of the Legislature. The advantages of education 
ought to be secured to many, especially in our large 
cities, whom orphanage, the depravity of parents, or 
some form of accident or misfortune seems to have 
doomed to hopeless poverty and ignorance. These 
intellects are as susceptible of expansion, of improve- 
ment, of refinement, of elevation, and of direction 



Inception of the Contest. 15 

as those minds which, through the favor of Provi- 
dence, are permitted to develop themselves under the 
influence of better fortunes ; they inherit the lot to 
struggle against temptations, necessities, and vices ; 
they "are to assume the same domestic, social, and 
political relations; and they are born to the same 
ultimate destiny. 

The children of foreigners, found in great numbers 
in our populous cities and towns, and in the vicinity 
of our public works, are too often deprived of the 
advantages of public education in consequence of 
prejudices arising from differences of language or 
religion. It ouglit never to be forgotten that the 
public welfare is as deeply concerned in their edu- 
cation as in that of our own children. I do not 
hesitate, therefore, to recommend the establishment 
of schools in which they may be instructed by 
teachers speaking the same language with tliemselves 
- and professing the same faith. There would be no 
iiiequahty in such a measure, since it happens from 
tlie force of circumstances, if not from choice, that 
the responsibilities of education are in most instances 
confided by us to native citizens, and occasions seldom 
offer a trial of our magnanimity, by committing that 
trust to persons differing from ourselves in language 
or religion. Since we have opened our country and 
all its fullness to the oppressed of every nation we 
should evince wisdom equal to such generosity by 
qualifying their children for the high responsibilities 
of citizenship. * 

Tliese passages do not present the grounds on 
which Roman Catholics base their claims, namely, 
the riglits of conscience, as obedient children of 

* AssevMy Documents. 1840. Vol. I, p. 5. 



16 EoMANisM VS. The Public School System. 

Eome, and the equal rights of citizenship ; neverthe- 
less they open the door sufficiently wide to admit 
what the Romanists ask for. 

Father Schneller, pastor of the Roman Catholic 
Church at Albany, after conversation with Governor 
Seward and other officials at the State-House, wrote 
to the Very Rev. Dr. Power, then administering the 
concerns of the New York diocese during the ab- 
sence of Bishop Hughes in Europe, expressing the 
opinions entertained in Albany, that if petitions were 
presented asking for the participation of Catholic 
schools in the School Fund the measure could be 
carried. The trustees of the Catholic churches in 
New York city were called together and the subject 
laid before them. Dr. Power visited Albany and, 
from personal interviews, inferred the probability of 
success. Returning to New York, a Roman Catholic 
Association was formed in order to secure uniformity 
and concert of action. Weekly meetings were held, 
and a petition for a share of the School Fund was 
presented to the Board of Assistant Aldermen. Nor 
were the Catholics the only parties in this movement. 
Other religious bodies also participated. The Board 
denied these petitions, but the agitation continued, 
with much diversity of sentiment and recrimina- 
tion. A Catholic paper, T/w Truth- Teller, charged 
the leaders with political designs, which was like 



Inception of the Contest. 17 

a fire-brand thrown into the already excited meet- 
ings. 

Bishop Hughes. 
At this time a stronger hand took up the contest. 
In 1838 Rev. John Hughes was appointed coadjutor 
bisho]^ of the New York diocese, on account of the 
failing health of Bishop Dubois. To obtain pecuniary 
aid for his diocese Bishop Hughes visited Europe in 
1839, returning early in July, 1840, at the time when 
the school contest was well under way. An impor- 
tant meeting was held by the Catholics on the 20th 
of July, the Yery Bev. Dr. Power presiding, and 
Bishop Hughes, for the first time, addressed his 
people on the subject, advising careful but firm 
action. August 10 the Roman Catholics issued an 
address to the public, to which the Public School 
Society made a reply, ^n a general meeting, on the 
21st of September, the Catholics adopted a petition 
to the Common Council for relief, complaining of the 
sectarian character of the public schools, on account 
of which the Catholics had been compelled to erect 
schools of their own, which they offered to submit to 
the conditions of the law in regard to religious teach- 
ing. They specified seven Catholic schools which 
they prayed the Council " to designate as among the 
schools entitled to participate in the Common School 
Fund, upon complying with the requirements of the 



18 Romanism vs. The Puclic School System. 

law," or " for such other relief as should seem meet.'" 
Tills petition was followed by two remonstrances, one 
by the trustees of the Public School Society, and the 
other by a committee of the pastors of the Methodist 
Episcopal churches of the city. 

At this time the Protestants had fully thought out 
the question of the integrity of the public scliool sys- 
tem, and had reached the conclusion that there could 
be no successful maintenance of that system, if the 
funds were divided among the different denomina- 
tions. That would end the system. 

The Debate. 

The Corporation determined to have the question 
discussed before the full P)oard of Aldermen and As- 
sistant Aldermen, which was done in the evenings of 
Oct. 28 and 29, 1840. In behalf of the Catholics 
Bishop Hughes appeared. In behalf of the Public 
School Society, Tlieodore Sedgwick, Esq., and Iliram 
Ketchum, Es(]. On subsequent evenings Kevs. Drs. 
Thomas E. Bond, Nathan Bangs, and David Reese, 
M.D., appeared for the Methodist Episcopal Church. 
Rev. Dr. Gardner Spring, for the Presbyterians ; and 

Rev. Dr. Knox, for the Dutch Reformed Church. 

When the others had ended Bishop Hughes replied 
at length, from which, in justice to the Rouian 
Catholics, an extract is given : — 



Inception of the Contest. 19 

It is the glory of tins country that when it is 
found that a wrong exists there is a power, an irre- 
sistible power, to correct the wrong. They have 
represented us as contending to bring the Catholic 
Scriptures into the public schools. This is not true. 
They have represented us as enemies to the Protest- 
ant Scriptures, without " note or comment ; " and on 
this subject I know not whether their intention was 
to make an impression on jonr honorable body or to 
enlist a sympathetic echo elsewhere ; but, whatever 
their object was, they have represented that even 
here Catholics have not concealed their enmity to 
the Scriptures. Now, if I had asked this honorable 
Board to exclude the Protestant Scriptures from the 
schools, then there might have been some coloring 
for the current calumny. But I have not done so. 
I say, Gentlemen of every denomination, keep the 
Scriptures you reverence, but do not force on me 
that which my conscience tells me is wrong. 

I may be ^yrong, as you may be ; and, as you exer- 
cise your judgment, be pleased to allow the same 
privilege to a fellow-being who must appear before 
our common God and answer for the exercise of it. 
I wish to do nothing like what is charged upon me ; 
that is not the purpose for which we petition this hon- 
orable Board. In the name of the community to 
which I belong I appear here for other objects ; and, 
if our petition is granted, our schools may be placed 
under the supervision of the public authorities or 
even of commissioners to be appointed by the Pub- 
lic School Society ; they may be put under the same 
supervision as the existing schools, to see that none 
of those phantoms, nor any grounds for those suspi- 
cions, which are as uncharitable as unfounded, can 
have existence in reality. There is, then, but one 
simple question — Will you compel us to pay a tax 



20 Romanism vs. The Public School System, 

from which we can receive no benefit, and to fre- 
quent schools which injure and destroy our religious 
rights in the minds of our children, and of which in 
our consciences we cannot approve ? This is the sim- 
ple question. ^ 

Roman Catholics have claihied that their position 
in this stage of the contest has been misunderstood, 
DeCourcj says : f 

While they proposed to keep their own schools they 
proposed to conform them to the law, to subject 
tliem to State supervision, to arrange the instruction 
according to the State requirements, and did not 
ask for the exclusion of the Bible from the schools of 
the Public School Society, but asked for their share 
of the public money. 

Pending the decision, negotiations for a compro- 
mise were interchanged, in which the Catholics of- 
fered to appoint no teachers except such as the Public 
School Society upon examination should find duly 
qualified ; to afl[:ord every facility for visitation and 
inspection to the duly-appointed agents of the 
Board ; to guard against abuses, and to render their 
schools in every respect free from objection. The 
Public School Society also offered terms — to let the 
schools be attended and managed as they were car- 
ried on, but to strike out of the school-books all pas- 

* Eeport, p. 4. Also works of Archbishop Huglies. 

+ History of the Catholic Church in the United States, p. 417. 



Inception of the Contest. 21 

sages to which the Catholics objected, and to have 
only such passages of the Bible read as are translated 
the same way in the Protestant and Romish ver- 
sions. But no agreement was reached ; and so, after 
numerous hearings, negotiations, and visitations of the 
schools, the case was decided adversely to the Ro- 
man Cart;holics, Jan. 12, 1841. But the Catholics 
did not rest their case at this point. 

Hon. John C. Spencee. 

Petitions were thenceforth drawn up and pre- 
sented to the Legislature, headed by Bishop Hughes. 
The memorial was referred by the Senate to Hon. 
John C. Spencer, Secretary of State and ex-officio 
Superintendent of Public Schools. The report of 
Mr. Spencer proposed an entire change in the system: 
that a Commissioner of Public Schools was to be 
elected in each ward of the city ; to these Commis- 
sioners the Public School Society was to be trans- 
ferred, and the general School Laws of the State 
were to be extended to the city. The Commissioners 
were to receive and apply the public moneys to the 
support of the public schools, which were to be 
placed under their control. 

Seeing that it was impossible to carry their meas- 
ure for a participation in the" Public School Fund the 
Catholics advocated Mr. Spencer's proposition, on the 



22 Romanism m. The Public School System. 

ground that it was tlie least objectionable system they 
could get, and at least possessed the merit of exclud- 
ing sectarianism from the schools. The Catholics 
favored the measure ; Protestants opposed it. Con- 
troversy ran high. The newspapers were full of it. 
A disgraceful " hull of excotmnunicatlon^'' from 
"Tristram Shandy" appeared in the Journal of Com- 
nurce. The result in the Legislature was the post- 
ponement of the question from May, IS-il, to January, 
1842, in order that the intervening State election might 
afford an expression of the popular sentiment. 

In the election followmg (November, 1841,) Gov- 
ernor Seward narrowly escaped defeat, because of the 
stand he had taken on the school question. The Cath- 
olics ran independent candidates for the Legislature in 
New York city, because both the political parties 
held mixed positions on .the school question, not mak- 
ing it an issue, and 2,200 votes were cast for the in- 
dependent ticket — a significant lesson to the old 
parties. In his message Governor Seward reiterated 
the views uttered the previous year, recommended the 
abolition of the Public School Society and the crea- 
tion of a Board of Commissioners, to be elected by 
the people, whose duty it should be "to apportion 
the school moneys among all the schools, including 
those now existing, which shall be organized and con- 
ducted in conformity to its general regulations and 



Inception of the Contest. 23 

the laws of the State iu the proportion of the number 
of pupils instructed." 

His recommendations were in substance adopted. 
The school system of the State w-as extended to New 
York city. This led to the formation of " Ward 
Schools," under the direction of officers chosen in each 
ward, while those of the Public School Society re- 
mained under its control, the two systems operating 
side by side. As might have been expected, however, 
experience soon demonstrated that such a plan was 
attended wath many difficulties. Tliis led the Public 
School Society to propose to retire fi'om the scene, 
M'hich was allowed ; and on the 22d of July, 1853, 
it transferred its schools and property to the Corpora- 
tion of the city, to be managed by the Corporation's 
Board of Education, just as the ward schools were 
administered. The surrender was made after forty- 
eight years of valuable service to poor and neglected 
children, and after a long resistance against the de- 
mands of the Romish hierarchy, under the leadershi]^ 
of Bishop Hughes. At that time the Bible had been 
ejected from more than eighty of the public schools 
in New York city. The Romanists had not suc- 
ceeded in obtaining a division of the School Fund for 
the benefit of their sectarian schools; but the disband- 
ing of the Public School Society was a Roman Cath- 
olic triumph. In this contest Bishop Hughes man- 



24 Romanism vs. The Public School System. 

aged with consummate tact, persistence, and ability, 
sustaining his cause in the Municipal Council and 
in the Legislature, and teaching tlie politicians the 
value of the Roman Catholic vote — a Lesson which they 
soon learned to appreciate. 

End of the Public School Society. 

On the occasion of the delivery of the Public 
School Society property to the Corporation of the 
city Hiram Ketchum, Esq., delivered an appropriate 
address, in which he used the following language : 

Now, my friends, I have to say here, and I hope 
that it will pass throughout the country, that there is 
no satisfying the Roman Catholics on this subject ; 
aijd here 1 would proclaim loud enough, if I could, to 
bo heard in California, that the Roman Catholic 
pi-iesthood are opposed to Protestant children and 
Roman Catholic children sitting side by side in com- 
mon schools and learning from the same forms. 
That is the objection. They did not want to expel 
the Bible ; they did not want to blot out the offensive 
passages ; but they wanted to separate their children 
from the Protestant children of the country, and to 
receive a portion of the School Fund to enable them 
to educate their children by themselves. For this 
object, we may rely upon it, the Roman Catholic 
priesthood will steadily and perseveringly exert them- 
selves. I say the " priesthood ; " for I do not believe 
the Roman Catholic laity desire any such separation. 
They, with us, desire that the children of this repub- 
lic may study side by side in common schools, in 



Inception of the Contest. 25 

order that they may have the advantage of all that 
union of sentiment and feeling that grows from boy- 
ish intimacy. 

Mr. Ketchum terminated his speech with the fol- 
lowing serious M-ords, which deserve to be well 
pondered by every friend of our public schools ; ill 
fact, by every true friend of the country : 

In this great struggle, which is to shake the coun- 
try from Maine to California, we must stand up and 
oppose error with all our force, and cleave it down in 
its place, and preserve the purity and integrity of our 
institutions. For, if this republic is not preserved, 
where shall we go ? What shall we do 'i What wall 
there be left for our children ? Let us, then, contend 
always for the right, being assured that such labor is 
never finally lost. 



2G Romanism vs. The PuiiLic School System. 



SECTION II. 
The l^jcpansioji, 

SOON after the closino- np of tlie Public Sdiool 
Society the New York Independent s;iid : 

Now the question is, Are our public schools still 
to be tampered with at the iustig-ation of Romish 
priests? And how far is this pusillanimous com- 
pliance Muth their demands on tlie part of our School 
Connnissioners to be cari-ied ? Shall the whole sj's- 
tem be first sacrificed and then Romanized? The 
object of this crusade against the public schools is, 
first, to bring them into contempt and suspicion, as 
irreligious and ungodlj^, and, next, to build up Romish 
schools on theii' ruins. 

The instinctive hatred and jealousy of Romanism 
against the Bible teach us very clearly the power 
of an education in which scriptural truth is an ele- 
ment and a fixture. 

"Expel the Bible from our schools!" exclaimed 
Mr. Choate. "Never, so long as a piece of Plymouth 
Rock remains big enough to make a gun-fiint out 
of!" 

The Amen<xm and Foreign Christian Union the 

same year said : 

Not content with the right which the Roman 
Catholic Church has, in connnon with every other 



Expansion of the Contest. 27 

religioQS denomination in the land, to establish as 
many schools as she can, at her own expense, and 
conduct them in any manner she pleases, she has the 
presumption to think that Protestants will consent 
to the destruction of our public schools — conducted, 
as at present, on a non-sectarian basis — and to allow 
her a share of the public school funds proportion- 
ate, not to the taxes which Roman Catholics pay 
(which are for the most part very far less than those 
of the Protestants), but to the number of children 
which they have, or which they may be able to 
gather into their schools. In other words, they wish 
to make Protestants contribute largely, directly or 
indirectly, to sustain tlieir sectarian schools. 

There is unmistakable evidence that a concerted 
movement has been set ■ on foot which ramifies 
throughout every portion of our country where a 
public school system exists. The agitation has been 
commenced and prosecuted with vigor at Boston, 
I^ew York, Newark, N. J., Detroit, Chicago, Cincin- 
nati, Pittsburg, and Baltimore. It is the old war-cry 
of Rome against all education except what is carried 
on under her own control and direction. The first 
charge against the public schools was that they were 
" sectarian," because the Bible was read daily at the 
opening and closing of them. Well, after having 
succeeded in getting a faithful superintendent put 
out of office, and a tool of the priest chosen in his 
place, and the Bible banished from eighty schools, 
the charge is now made that the public schools are 
"godless." 

After the act of 1842 Bishop Hughes devoted 
himself more fully to the establishment of Catholic 
schools for Catholic children, calling to his aid in the 



28 KoMANisM VS. The Public School System. 

work of instruction the Brothers of the Christian 
schools and the ^isterlioods of the Church. The 
Romanists have paid their proportion of taxes for the 
support of the public schools, in which tliey say 
" thej cannot conscientiously educate their children," 
and at the same time have provided parochial schools 
of their own. 

It has been stated by a good authority that in the 
year 1853 the Roman Catholics demanded State aid 
for their schools in eight different States — Massachu- 
setts, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Mary- 
land, Michigan, Ohio, California. Since that time 
the demand has been repeatedly made elsewhere in 
some form. 

In the same year that the Public School Society 
surrendered its property in New York city, in 
Michigan, and Ohio, the subject was carried to the 
polls, but the result was unfavorable to the Roman- 
ists. The existing school law was sustained by large 
majorities, the German Catholics in great numbers 
standing with the Protestants. The attempt was re- 
peated in Maryland. Hon. Mr. Kearney, member of 
the Legislature from Baltimore, introduced into that 
body a bill, accompanied with a flourishing report, to 
make a similar division of the school moneys, as 
asked for in New York city. The movement met 
with great opposition in Baltimore, one-fourth part 



Expansion of the Contest. 29 

of whose population were Roman Catholics. An im- 
mense mass-meeting was held in the hall of the Mary- 
land Institute. Addresses of great power were de- 
livered by Rev. Drs. Plummer, Fuller, Johns, and 
others, and the proposed measure was unanimously 
condemned. 

At the time the Public School Society surrendered 
itself and its position (1853) some kind of distinctly 
Roman Catholic schools had been in existence in 
New York city something over twenty -five years. 
The first school established by them was on Pri!ree 
street (between Mulberry and Mott streets,) some 
time prior to 1830. In 1830 St. Paul's School, 
Brooklyn, St. Peter's, on Barclay Street, and St. 
Stephen's, East Broadway, were opened. Two more 
commenced in 1833. St. John's College (Jesuit) was 
opened in 1841 and raised to the rank of a university 
in 1845. The College of St. Francis Xavier soon 
followed. What was their number at this time ? 

A Statement for 1854. 

The editor of the American and Foreign Christian 
TJnion^ a very careful, reliable magazine, for Jan- 
nary, 1854, said : 

We have in our possession a most remarkable 
document. It is a tabular view of the Roman Cath- 
olic schools and institutions, both those held during 



30 Romanism m. The Public School Svstem. 

the week and those lield on tlie Sabbath, in the city 
of New York, inchiding Elai'leiii. This document 
was prepared by a trustworthy person, who took pains 
to visit all these schools, and make the requisite in- 
quiries on the spot. We have no doubt it is as accu- 
rate as it is possible to make such a statement. A¥e 
will give a summary of this document in as i^w 
words as we can, and acconqxiny it with a few re- 
marks. 

1. These schools and institutions are 28 in number, 
and are connected with Roman Catholic churches, 
and bear the names of these churches — such as St. 
Vincent, St. Bridget, St. Nicholas, St. Anne, St. 
Patrick (the Cathedral), St. John the Baptist, St. 
Stephen, etc., etc. 

2. The number of these schools which have hoarders 
as well as day-scholars is six, and the number of 
boarders is 920. 

3. The number of pupils is IO5O6I, including the 
920 boarding-scholars. 

4. The number of youth in the Sunday-schools at- 
tached to these churches, and held, we believe, in the 
same school-rooms, is 9,G49. 

5. The number of priests who liave the charge of 
these schools, either as instructors or directors, or 
both, is sixty. 

6. The number of teachers in these schools, male 
and female, is 143. 

7. In 22 schools the instruction is in English ; in 
four it is in English and German ; in one it is in 
French and English, and in one it is in German. 

8. The teachers belong to Jive orders — Christian 
Brothers, Sisters of Charity, etc. 

9. Four of these schools are called "District 
Schools," and receive aid, if we are rightly informed, 
from the public treasury. These are (unless we have 



Expansion of the Contest. 31 

been misinformed) the schools -of St. Mary's, St. 
Francis Xavier's, St. Patrick's, and St. Vincent de 
Paul. We believe that Mr. Ketcluim explained this 
ill his speech last summer {see Ar/ierican and Foreign 
Christian Union for the month of October). 

10. In several of these schools are children belong- 
in <j^ to various Protestant denominations ! How many 
it is not possible to ascertain; but the number is be- 
lieved to be considerable. And this in a city where 
no Protestant family can possibly live very remote 
from a good public school, in which, whatever may 
be taught, or not taught, as it regards religion, their 
children would not be exposed to being made ac- 
quainted with the dreadful errors of Rome. 

11. In not one of these twenty-eight schools, it is 
believed, is either the Bible or the -New Testament 
read by the scholars or read to them by the teachers ! 
When the Protestant version is used in any public 
school, the Romish hierarchy cry out that this is 
sectarianism ! When the Bible is put away to please 
them, then they cry ont that the school has become 
godless! But when they establish their own schools, 
expressl}^ on the ground that the public schools are 
godless, then they will not use in them even the 
Douay version or any other ! So true is it that 
Rome dreads the Bible in any translation whatever ! 
To this conclusion we have to come at last. 

12. The books used in these schools are elementary 
primers, spelling-books, catechisms, grammars, geog- 
ra])hies, etc., about which there is little to say. Oc- 
casionally one finds in the geography used (that of 
Pinnock) some statements which show, as might be 
expected, a Romish bias ; but in the main the book 
is sufficiently correct. The reading-books found in 
these schools are three: The Third Book of Reading 
Lessons ^ A New Treatise on the Duty of a Christian 



32 Romanism vs. The Public School System. 

towards God, and The Doctrinal and Scriptural 
Catechisin / or. Instructions on the Principal Truths 
of the Christian Religion. 

The first of these books was compiled by the 
Brothers of the Cliristian Schools. The second is 
" an enlar<;ed and improved version of the original 
work of the venerable J. B. de la Salle, founder of 
the Christian Schools." The translation is from the 
pen of Mrs. J. Sadlier. The third is a translation 
(also by Mrs. Sadlier) from the original French work 
of the Rev. P. Collot. The Urst is a collection of 
pieces for reading in schools, and has but little that is 
objectionable in its character. The last two are, of 
course, full of the peculiar doctrines and practices of 
the Roman Catholic Church. They are duodecimo 
volumes of some 350 or 400 pages. The third and 
last, we will only add, is a very complete, and even 
minute, exhibition of the dogmas and sentiments of 
the Roman Catholic Church on ever_y topic supposed 
to be connected with the Christian system of faith 
and morals. All the exclusiveness of Rome is here 
fully developed and inculcated, as well as in the 
smaller catechisms. The child is taught that there is 
no salvation out of the Church (of Rome), and that 
there is no hope for what she calls " heretics " and 
"schismatics." No less than twenty-two pages of 
this Doctrinal and Scrij.)turcd Catechism are devoted 
to the subject of baptism, seven to confirmation, 
forty-seven to the eucharist, thirty to penance, and 
thirty to other subjects. The reader will conclude 
from this that the work descends to the usual ex- 
planations and subtle distinctions of the Romish 
doctors. 

Our chief object is to give our readers some idea of 
the character of the instruction in tlie schools for 
which the Roman hierarchy demanded the aid of the 



Expansion of the Contest. 33 

State in New York, Massachusetts, Michigan, Ohio, 
Pennsylvania, Maryland, New Jersey, and California, 
last winter, and will demand it again! _ It is our 
opinion that the State should aid no sectarian schools, 
whether Protestant or Roman Catholic. 

A Statement foe 1858. 

Pupils. Teachers. 

In higher schools for females 708 84 

" Colleges and higher schools for males 530 48 

" Free schools for females 6, 100 84 

*' " " " Males...... 4,800 54 

" Orphan asylums, etc 800 46 

Total ..., 13,938 316 

Capital Invested. 

Female high schools $780,000 

High schools for males 250,000 

Female, free schools 228,000 

Male " " 228,000 

Orphan asylums 462,000 

Total $1,948,000 

About half under mortgage. * 

The editor of the American and Foreign Christian 
Union (April, 1858), made a statement that shows 
the rapid progress the Roman Catholics were making 
in the control of the public schools in that city : 

"We will state, upon what we regard as good 
authority, that the papal members of the Board of 
Education amount to about one quarter of the whole 
number ; that the papal members of the ward 

* The above statement has been abridged from the New TorJc Herald, 
January 22, 1858. 



34 Romanism ^6-. The fviiLw School System. 

boards ainouiit to nearly one half of their number 
respectively, and tliat at least one third of all the 
teacliers now employed in the public schools are 
members of the Komish organization." " It is 
manifest that Rome is making gigantic efforts to 
e^tablish herself hrmly in this land." "' At least 
150,000 children are more or less affected by tiiis 
state of things in New York, every day." 

A Statement for 1871. 

The !New York IJaily Tribuiie, September 11, 
1871, under the head '"'' I^ublic School Abuses,''' gave 
an exhibit for that time. Some idea of the article 
may be judged from its sub-headings : " Decrease in 
Attendance ; " " Corruption in the Board ; " " The 
Old Board of Education Destroyed that the Ring 
might Rule ; " " The Extravagance of the New 
Board Fully Revealed ; " " A New Field for Ring 
Corruption," etc. It shows very clearly that the 
Board of Education was under the control of the 
same spirits who had so manipulated the city finances as 
to pocket scores of millions of tlie people's money. 
It reveals also how entirely subservient to Roman 
Catholic influences was the management of the 
Public School System. We insert tlie part of the 
article under the sub-head, " The Bible in the Schools^ 
It says : 

Section 44 of laws governing the public schools 
reads thus : 



Expansion of tfie Contest. 35 

"All the public schools of this city under the 
jurisdiction of the Board of Education shall be 
opened by the reading of a portion of the Holy 
Scriptures, without note or comment." 

It is well known that this rule is gradually be- 
coming obsolete, principally through Catholic in- 
fluences. There is much difference of opinion, among 
the most religious people even, as to the propriety of 
enforcing this rule, and it is no part of the plan of 
this article to war against the disposition to exclude 
the Scriptures from the schools. The facts in the 
case will be brought forward to help in the pres- 
entation of a complete illustration of the illegal and 
fraudulent methods used by the opponents of the 
present school system to break it up. The state of 
affairs in this connection in several of the wards is as 
follows : 

In the Sixth Ward the Catholics make up three 
fourths of the population, and these are controlled by 
the priests. Here Mr. Muliany, who has been prin- 
cipal of Ward School No. 23 for twenty -Ave years, 
says that the Bible has not been read for twenty 
years at least ; and yet he reports his delinquency 
every month. There was a disturbance about the 
matter in 1861, and the salaries of all the teachers in 
the schools of the ward where the reading was not 
maintained were suspended for six months ; but the 
dereliction was finally acquiesced in. Mr. Muliany 
said that his school and that in Elm Street would be 
closed in a month if the Bible- was read in them, 
" Father Curran, of the church across the way, has no 
parochial school, but if he hadn't perfect confidence 
in us he would open one and reduce our attendance 
by three fourths in a single week." Sometimes a 
rumor would be started that Curran was to begin a 
school, and all the teachers of the public schools were 



86 Romanism vs. The Public School System. 

at once in terror for fear they would lose their places. 
James Campbell, who has a grog-shop at No. 82 
Centre Street, is one of the school trustees in the 
Sixth Ward. He said to a reporter, " AVhin I went 
into my place here, an' that's a-goin' on eight year, 
the Bible wasn't a bein' read ; an' shure I didn't ax 
any questions about it. I guiss it's all right, it is, and 
they've fixed it up wid the Board of Eddycashun so 
as there won't be nothing said about. Anyhow I 
couldn't, 'pon me honor, tell ye any thing about it, 
sur." The power of Catholicism is so great in this 
ward that a vote of censure was nearly passed in 
1868 by the male principals against Thomas Hunter, 
principal of Grammar School Ko. 35, for ridiculing 
the style of teaching in vogue in Catholic schools. 

In the Twenty-first Ward, Sara J. J. McCaffrey, 
Principal of Primary School No. 16, uses a Catholic 
Bible, and is in high glee because, after long badger- 
ing the Board of Education, she and her backers in 
the ward obtained the book from the Department of 
Instruction, it being duly labeled by them, and they 
paying $25 20 for it. 

In the Fourth Ward schools there has been no 
Bible-reading for eleven years. Here again the pay 
of teachers was stopped on account of the omission. 
There was much excitement, and the teachers brought 
suit for their salaries. The suit finally went by de- 
fault. In one case a trustee carried oft' a Bible from 
School No. 1 under his arm, to decide the matter. 
An evidence of the real animus and intention of the 
Romanists is found in the fact that a reporter, visit- 
ing this %(ih.oo\ found the pupils engaged in celebrat- 
iny the CatholiG festival of Ascension Thursday^ hy 
singing and other exercises. The teachers in this 
ward are nearly all Catholics. 

li\ the Fourteenth Ward there is no Bible-reading. 



Expansion of the Contest. 37 

In ^cliool No. 21, this has been the case for fifteen 
years. The teachers are nearly all Catholics, but they 
are very jealous of the parochial schools. All the 
trustees are also Catholics. 

The five schools of the Nineteenth Ward are ruled 
by Catholic and Democratic trustees, with one ex- 
ception. The priests are trying hard to build up 
parochial schools here, and keep their children away 
from the public schools on religious holidays, and 
also keep them at home for months together to pre- 
pare for yearly confirmation or " first communion." 
Nothing but the great superiority of the public 
schools enables them to withstand the competition of 
the parochial schools. Some parents even pay the 
price of tuition in the latter while they send their 
children to the former. 

In the Twenty-first Ward two schools still use the 
Protestant Bible. The recitation of the Lord's 
Prayer ceased in 1870. John Stephenson, the car- 
builder, fought for this custom, and, though a warm 
fi'iend of the schools and a trustee for many years, 
has not since been returned to office. Nearly all the 
trustees are Catholics. The priests of St. G-abriel's 
Church fight the public schools very hard. They 
induce the children who attend their schools to call 
all who go to the others " Little Protestants," and one 
of their preachers proclaimed in the pulpit that 
parents who wished their children to " learn to steal 
or swear, or do all kinds of evil, should send them to 
the public schools." One priest came near being 
expelled for speaking favorably of the free schools. 

In the Sixteenth Ward an illiterate Irish Catholic 
named McNiernay proclaims himself the champion 
of Romanism, and strives in every possible way to 
drive out Protestant teachers and observances. He 
has kept up a sort of guerilla fight against one 



38 EoMANiSM VS. The Public School System. 

principal — lias used his influence to so break down 
the standing of the school that the principal would 
be forced to resign. Tiie means lie has used have been 
the forcing of incompetent teachers and a worthless 
janitor upon the school. 

The Fifth Ward was formerly strongly Protestant, 
but the Catholics are getting the upper hand. A 
specimen of what American Democrats may' expect 
from their Irish political associates is shown by the 
following reply of the " Hon. " Mike Murphy to the 
friends of a stanch American Tammany Democrat, 
wlio had been a trustee and wished the nomination 
again : " Yis, gintlemin, this is all very good, beshure, 
but the time is past whin American Dimicrats are 
agoin' to be elicted to offices in the Fifth Ward ; an' 
bedad, ye may make yer minds that it w^on't come 
again very seon. We don't want any American 
Dimicrats ; bedad an' we don't. We kin git along 
widout 'em." 

Father Quinn, of the First Ward, who is a candidate 
for the Bishopric of New York, delivers furious 
tirades against free schools, and frightens hundreds of 
children into his own by this means. The trustees of 
this ward are prophecies of the good time coming. 
They are Peter Disch, emigrant boarding-house 
keeper; Patrick Baldwin, liquor dealer; William 
Keimy, ostensible undertaker, is a gentleman at large, 
with political influence ; John O'Connor, junk-store 
and politics, and Dennis Keenan, liquor-dealer. 

The wards mentioned are some of those that are 
most thoroughly under Irish Catholic influence ; but 
many others are rapidly running in the same direc- 
tion. 

This was five years after Hon. V. M. Rice, Super- 
intendent of Public Instruction of the State of New 



The Expansion. 39 

York, had rendered an official decision against tlie 
use of the Bible in the public schools. The year 
following the date of the document just quoted, in 
1872, Hon. Mr. Weaver, Superintendent of In- 
struction of the State of New York, officially pro- 
nounced a similar decision. 



40 KoMANisM VS. The Public School System. 



SECTION III. 
The Bible in Schools. 

THE rejection of the Bible from the schools of New- 
York was clearly contrary to the intentions of 
the founders of the Public School System, and con- 
trary even to many explicit legal provisions. 

Governor George Clinton, of New York, in 1802 
and 1803 recommended the subject of education to 
the Legislature because of the advantage wliich would 
come to morals, religion, liberty, and good government. 
Governor Lewis, in 1804, said : 

In a government resting on public opinion, and 
deriving its chief support from the affections of the 
people, religion and morality cannot be too sedulously 
inculcated. Common schools, under the guidance of 
respectable teachers, should be established in every 
village. 

So prominent was the idea of inculcating morals as 
a part of common school education in the minds of 
the founders of this system. 

The first law establishing the Common School 
Fund of New York State was passed in 1805, the 
same year in which was passed the act of incorporation 



The Bible in Schools. 41 

of the Public School Society of ISTew York City. In 
the first address to the public by the founders of the 
city free schools, dated May 18, 1805, it was stated 
that — 

It will be a primary object, without observing the 
peculiar forms of any religious society, to inculcate the 
sublime truths of morality and religion contained in 
the holy Scriptures. 

This object was kept in view, and the Bible was 
read and its lessons inculcated in an niisectarian way. 
In 1810 Governor Tompkins said : 

I cannot omit this occasion of inviting .your atten- 
tion to the means of instruction for the rising gener- 
ation. To enable tliem to perceive and duly estimate 
their rights, to inculcate correct principles and habits 
of morality and religion and to render them useful 
citizens, a competent provision for their education is 
all essential. 

The next year Governor Tompkins renewed his 
appeal so effectually that five commissioners were ap- 
pointed to report a system for the organization and 
establishment of the common schools in the State of 
New York. They reported the following year. 

The remarkable success of the Public School 
Society of New York city, in the first seven years of 
its existence, was the strongest incentive to the Legis- 
lature, in 1812, to make provisions for free schools 
throughout the State. The idea of inculcating 



42 Romanism vs. The Public School System. 

morality with secular education was prominent in tlie 
minds of the Commissioners, as is evident from the 
lani^uage of their report : 

The expedient devised by the Legislature is the 
establishment of common schools, which, being spread 
throughout the State and aided by its bounty, will 
bring improvement within the reach and power of 
the humblest citizen. This appears to be the best 
plan that can be devised to disseminate religion, 
morality, and learning throughout the country. 

Connected with the introduction of suitable books, 
the Conmiissioners take the liberty of suggesting that 
some observations and advice touching the reading of 
the Bible might be salutary. In order to render the 
sacred volume productive of the greatest advantage, it 
should be held in a very different light from that of a 
common school-book. It should be regarded as a 
book intended not merely for literary improvement, 
but as inculcating great and indispensable moral truths 
also. With these impressions the Commissioners are 
induced to recommend the practice introduced into 
the New York free schools of having select chapters 
read at the opening of the schools in the morning, and 
the like at close in the afternoon. This is deemed the 
best mode of preserving the religious regard which is 
due to the sacred writings. 

In accordance with the recommendation of this re- 
port the common school system of the State of New 
York was founded in 1812. In confirmation of this 
view that eminent statesman, Hon. John C. Spencer, 
Secretary of State of New York and also Superin- 
tendent of Public Instruction, said, in 1839 : 



The Bible in Schools. 43 

The people of this country have a right to bring up 
their cliildren in the practice of publicly thanking their 
Creator for his protection and invoking his blessing. 

Again, in a communication to the Legislature, April 
26, 1841, called forth by the religious difficulty at the 
time in the schools in New York city, he said : 

It is believed to be an error to suppose that tlie 
absence of all religious instruction, if it were practi- 
cable, is a mode of avoiding sectarianism ; on the con- 
trary, it would be in itself sectarianism, because it 
would be consonant to the views of a peculiar class 
and opposed to the views of other classes. ... It is 
believed that, in a country where the great body of 
our fellow-citizens recognize the fundamental truths 
of Christianity, public sentiment would be shocked by 
the attempt to exclude all instruction of a religious 
nature from the public schools ; and that any part or 
scheme of public education, in which no reference 
whatever was had to moral principles founded on these 
truths would be abandoned by all. 

An act of the Legislature was passed April 11, 
1842, which might at first thought appear to favor 
the exclusion of the Bible from the schools. By this 
act it is provided that 

'No school shall be entitled to or receive any portion 
of the school money, in which the religious doctrines 
or tenets of any particular Christian or any other re- 
ligious sect shall be taught, inculcated or practiced, or 
in which any book or books containing compositions 
favorable or prejudicial to the particular doctrines or 
tenets of any particular Christian or other religious 



4-i KoMANiSM VS. The Public School System. 

sect, or which shall teach the doctrines or tenets of 
any other religious sect, shall be used. 

This jDrovision was doubtless secured bj the oppo- 
nents of the Bible in New York city, with the inten- 
tion of using it for the expulsion of the Bible and all 
other religious instruction from the schools. At all 
events, determined efforts were made in the city, 
under cover of this provision and other similar enact- 
ments, for the ejection of the Scriptures, which had 
been employed daily for nearly forty years. To meet 
the efforts an amendment to the law of 1842 was ob- 
tained in 1844, mainly by the efforts of Colonel Stone, 
City Superintendent, which declared : 

Nothing herein contained shall authorize the Board 
of Education to exclude the holy Scriptures without 
note or comment, or any selections therefrom, from 
any of the schools. 

Thus the efforts against the Bible resulted in the 
more explicit legal sanction of its use. Subsequently, 
however, this important feature of the law was in 
danger of being obliterated, and still later was utterly 
ignored. The opposition to the Bible gathered 
strength witli every renewed attack upon it. After 
the Bible had maintained its place for sixty years, a 
decision from Hon. V. M. Eice, Superintendent of 
Public Instruction for the State of New York, was 
rendered against the use of the Bible in the public 



The Bible in Schools. 45 

schools. This was in 1866. In 1872 a similar de- 
cision was obtained from Hon. Mr. Weaver, then State 
Superintendent of Instruction, who strangely mis- 
quoted Hon. J. C. Spencer as authority in support of 
his decision. Armed with such official documents, it 
is no wonder that school officers and teachers, especially 
in Roman Catholic wards, but not wholly conhned to 
them, defied the law. 

In the meantime the controversy which has been 
sketched in New York city had broadened out into 
the whole country, particularly into the large centers 
of population, in which the Roman Catholic Church 
was massing its people. In every instance, however, 
the first point of irritation was the use of the Protest- 
ant Bible in the public schools. 

In Connecticut 
the reading of the Bible, prayer, and other religious 
exercises, were neither required nor forbidden by 
law, these things being left to be regulated by school 
boards or the people of the various municipalities. 

In Massachusetts. 
As late as 1855 Rev. Dr. Sears, Secretary of the 
Massachusetts Board of Education, said: 

The Roman Catholics seldom raise any objection 
to the use of the Bible in our schools. In one man- 
ufacturing town the school committee allow the chil- 



46 Romanism vs. The Public School System. 

dren of Eouuin Ciitholic parents to use the Doiiay 
version if tliey prefer. In Lowell there is nt least 
one Roman Catholic teacher, the children being from 
such families. But a single instance of the Romanists 
maintaining separate schools has been recently known, 
and that was in Fall River, 'ihe children have left 
those schools in many cases because they are inferior 
to the public schools. 

The General Statutes of Massachusetts formerly 
read : 

The School Committee shall require the daily read- 
ing of some portion of the Biljle in the common En- 
glish version ; but shall never direct afiy school-books 
calculated to favor the tenets of any particular sect of 
Christians to be purchased or used in any of the town 
schools. 

The first part of this section was distasteful to the 
Roman Catholics, but the State law did not specify 
whether the reading shall be by the teacher, or by one 
or more of the scholars, or by both teacher and schol- 
ars. In 1859 there was an organized resistance to 
"the enforced use of the Pi'otestant version of the 
Bible," to'the " enforced learning and reciting of the 
Ten Commandments in their Protestant form," and to 
the "enforced union in chanting the Lord's Prayer 
and other religious chants " as they were then prac- 
ticed in the Boston public schools; and about four 
hundred pupils were, for a time, withdrawn or expelled 
from the schools ; but the greater part soon returned. 



The Bible in Schools. 47 

In 1862 and 1880 the law was amended, and now 
reads as follows (Chap. M, sec. 32) : 

The School Committee shall require the daily read- 
ing in the public schools of some portion of the Bible, 
without written note or oral comment; but they shall 
not require a scholar, whose parent or guardian in- 
forms the teacher in writing that he has conscientious 
scruples against it, to read from any particular ver- 
sion or to take any personal part in the reading ; nor 
shall tiiey direct to be purchased or used in the public 
schools school-books calculated to favor the tenets of 
any particular sect of Christians. 

The Famous Cincinnati Contest. 

We have referred to the question of the Bible in 
the public schools as it was agitated, in a mixed form, 
in connection with the question of the division of the 
school moneys in New York city. In some cities the 
Bible question assumed a more distinct form, as in 
the Cincinnati controversy in 1869. The reading 
of the Bible without note or comment had been a 
daily exercise in the schools of that city from their 
first establishment forty jenrs before, and instruction 
in the elementary truths and principles of religion 
was always given without any sectarian interference 
with " the rights of conscience. As early as 1842 
Bishop Purcell complained that the school text-books 
contained passages obnoxious, to Roman Catholics, 
thattheirchildren were required to read the Protestant 



4S Romanism vs. The Public School System. 

Testainent and Bible, and tliat the district libraries 
contained objectionable works to which their children 
liad access without tlie knowledge of their parents. 

The School Board invited the Bishop to point out 
any thing that was offensive in the text-books in the 
English and German schools. They also ordered that 
no pupil be required to read the Testament or Bible, 
if his parents or guardians desired them excused from 
that exercise, and that no child should take books 
from the libraries, except at the request of the parent 
or guardian at the beginning of the session. . 

"When the controversy was opened, in 1869, it was 
stated that the rule adopted in 1842 had long been 
inoperative, and had been for twenty-live years omit- 
ted from the standing rules of the Board. In 1852 
the School Board ordered that the opening exercises 
of the schools should comprise the reading of the 
Bible and appropriate singing, the pupils to read such 
version as their parents or guardians might prefer; 
but that no notes or marginal readings be allowed, nor 
comments by the teachers. In 1862 the Board's report 
says there are intimations that the division of the 
School Fund will be again agitated, but that they are 
relieved from any apprehensions by " the fact that 
the Constitution of the State imperatively forbids the 
right or control of any part of the school funds by 
any religious or other sect." " The threat is accom- 



The Bible in Schools. 49 

panied hy reproaches ntterlj^ groundless," because for 
twenty years the Board has had " a standing request 
that any offensive exercises or books, or passages in 
books, used in our schools be made known to us, which 
has never been answered ; that for nearly ten years we 
have offered to supply teacliers and schools in every 
orphan asylum whatever having a sufficient number 
of children to warrant the employment of a teacher; 
that we have always carefully excused pupils, whose 
parents desired it, fi-oni attending the religious exer- 
cises with which our scliools are daily opened, and 
that in order to encourage pupils to attend the relig- 
ious teachings which their parents prefer, we have 
expressly required that they shall be excused from 
school one half day or two quarter days each week." 

The rule adopted in 1852 remained in force until 
l*^ovember 1, 1869, when the Bible was formally ex- 
cluded from the public schools of the city by the 
adoption of the following resolutions by " The Board 
of Education : " 

Resolved^ 1. That religious instruction and the 
reading of religious books, including the Holj^ Bible, 
are prohibited in the common schools of Cincinnati, 
it being the true object and intent of this rule to 
allow the children of parents of all sects and opinions 
in matters of faith and worship to enjoy alike the 
benefits of the Common School Fund. 

2. TJiat so much of the regulations, in the course 
4 



50 Romanism vs. The Public Suhc.ol System. 

of study and text-books, in the Intermediate and Dis- 
trict Schools (p. 213 Annual Report), as reads as fol- 
lows : "The opening exercises in every department 
shall commence by reading a portion of the Bible, by 
or under the direction of the teacher, and appropriate 
singing by the pupils," be repealed. 

These resolutions were adopted, * after a long 
and exciting contest, by a vote of twenty-two to 
fifteen. One member absent desired his name to 
be recorded with the minority. John D. Minor and 
others instituted a civil suit, and an order was issued 
the next day restraining the promulgation and en- 
forcement of the resolutions. The case came for 
trial before the Superior Court of Cincinnati, No- 
vember 30, 1869, Judges Storer, Taft, and Hagans 
being on the bench. It was ably argued by six law- 
yers, three on each side, and on the 18th of Febru- 
ary following judgment was rendered for the plain- 

* POLITICAL ANALYSIS OF THE VOTE. 



For liescindli''/. 

Democrats 12 

Kepublicuns lU 

Totiil 22 



A/jaiiid Rescinding. 

Demoprats f> 

K(jpul)licui)s 12 



Total . 



RELIGIOUS ANALYSIS. 



/b/* Rescind ill fj. 

ratholips 10 

Freo-Thinkers 3 

Jews 1 

I'rotestants 3 

Unknown 5 

Total 22 



Affairist Reseiriding. 

Protestants IS 

Free-Thinker 1 

Jew 1 

Total 15 



The Bible in Schools. .51 

tiffs. This judgment set forth that the resokitions 
were passed without warrant or authority of law and 
in violation of the seventh section in the first article 
of the Bill of Eights in the State Constitution, and 
are therefore null and void. Judge Taft disssented. 
A motion for a new trial was overruled by the 
court, and the reading of the Bible was practically 
restored. 

It has been stated, on what seems to be good au- 
thority, that not more than' two hundred petitioners 
asked for the exclusion of the Bible, and that a re- 
monstrance against it was sent in with more than 
ten thousand names upon it. The leading person 
prompting and sustaining the onset against the Bible 
was Rev. Thomas H. Yickers, a free-thinking Unita- 
rian minister. Rev. A. D. Mayo, D.D., a prominent 
Unitarian minister of the " right wing," was an able 
and efficient defender of the Bible in the schools. 

Three weeks after tlie action by the Cincinnati 
School Board, and before the suit had been argued in 
the Com-t, the TaUet* said (November 20, 1869); 

If this has been done with a view to reconciling 
Catholics to the common school system its purpose 
Avill not be realized. It does not meet, nor in any 
degree lessen, our objection to the public school sys- 
tem, etc. 

* New York City Eoman Catliolic paper. 



52 Romanism vs. The Public School System. 

December 25, the same paper said : 

We hold education to be the function of the 
Clnirch, not of the State ; and, in our cause, we do 
not and will not accept the State as educator. 

December 11 the Frceinanus Journal said : 

The Catholic solution of this muddle about Bible 
or no Bible in schools is " Hands off ! " No State 
taxation or donation to any schools. You look to 
jour children and we will look to ours. We don't 
want you to be taxed for Catholic schools. We 
do not want to be taxed- ft)r Protestant or godless 
schools. Let the public school system go to where it 
came from — the devil. 

The Catholic World for August, 1871, shows how 
little was gained by the liberality which allowed the 
exclusion of the Bible from the schools : 

This proposed remedy (says the World) will prove 
worse than the disease. ... Exclude your Protestant 
Bible and all direct and indirect religions instruction 
from your public schools, and you will not render 
them a whit less objectionable than they are now, for 
we object not less to purely secular schools than we 
do to sectarian schools. . . . There is only one of two 
things that can satisfy us — either cease to tax us for 
the support of the public schools, and leave the edu- 
cation of the children to us, or give us our propor- 
tion of the public schools in which to educate them 
in our own religion. We protest against the gross 
injustice of being taxed to educate the children of 
non-Catholics, and being obliged, in addition, to sup- 
port schools for our own children, at onr own expense, 
or peril their souls. 



The Bible in Schools. 53 

Many will inquire, Does not this argument prove 
too much ? Do not the things here claimed involve 
a recognition of a particular religion by the State and 
a discrimination in its favor which necessarily carries 
with it the converse right to discriminate against it ? 

The New Haven Contest 

will be related b}'' another : * 

You know what New Haven lately resolved on, 
after a keen debate between her Romish and her 
Protestant schools. There was a party, represented 
in that college city by honored men, in favor of 
excluding tlie Bible from the common schools, in 
order that Romanists might make no objection to the 
management of the education of the children. That 
party is not a weak one among Protestants in this 
country. It once mastered the city of Cincinnati. I 
suppose that I shall offend many if I say that political 
parties may easily connect their vote with strong eccle- 
siastical prejudices concerning the American school 
system, and that a great majority of our Romish pop- 
ulation is in one of the political parties. I know over 
what blazing plowshares I am walking; but, as I 
am no politician, and have no political bias in what I 
am saying, you will pardon me for asserting that 
in such a city as Cincinnati a democratic municipal 
government is almost certain to be under the manipu- 
lation of Romish ecclesiastics. That is true in New 
York city. I will not say it is true in Boston or Chi- 
cago ; but our great towns already occupy one fifth 
of the land, and the largest of them are notoriously 
under the control of the political party which has in 

* Euv. Josepli Cook, Decoiiiber, 1879. 



54 IloMANisM VS. The Public School System, 

it friends of this foreig-ii priesthood. In New York 
city about five seventlis of the most important ofKces 
are in tlie hands of Romanists. A practical division 
of the school funds has occurred in New York city in 
several cases. 

New Haven had before her the same question 
which Cincinnati discussed, but she decided it pre- 
cisely in the opposite way : to have the Scriptures 
read, and to have the Lord's Prayer offered by tlie 
children. The Scriptures are read in the Protestant 
version ; but no teacher in New Haven has any ob- 
jection to a Romish child reading out of the Romish 
version. There is notliing really sectarian in the 
present religious exercises, which New Haven, after 
long debate, has adopted, unless it be the exclusion 
of a prayer recognizing Mary, the virgin, as in 
some sense divine. That prayer was really recom- 
mended by one or two astute theologians in New 
Haven, and it is to the amazement of all America. 
Shut out, I say, from public use the prayers that rep- 
resent sectarianism, not only in Romanism, but in 
Protestantism. 1 would take what is common to all 
sects — the Decalogue, the Sermon on the Mount, the 
Bible, as a text-book of morals — and I would sink 
them by public reverential exercises into the youth- 
ful heart of this nation. To that platform New 
Haven has come back after long discussion ; but if 
you can't come up to that platform I will ask you 
to come up to one next to it — that is, local option. 
If 1 could only re-arrange our population, put tlie 
infidels in wards by themselves, the extreme Roman- 
ists in wards by themselves, and American Protest- 
ants in w^ards by themselves, I would allow the law of 
the survival of the fittest to determine whose schools 
are the best, and whose literature, whose newspapers, 
whose politics, whose science. 



Attempts at Compeomise. 55 



SECTION IV. 
Attempts at Couiproniise, 

ABOUT 1870 tlio impression was upon tlie mmds 
of many intelligent Protestants, gathered from 
some things darkl}^ shadowed forth bj Eoman Catho- 
lics, that papists were about to work out a plan which 
would modify the public school system, and furnish 
a common ground on which Protestants and Eoman- 
ists could meet and better utilize the existing system, 
without impinging upon the rights of either. In 
view of the immense expense prospectively involved 
in undertaking to establish every-where a system of 
parochial schools, there was a strong inducement to 
Catholics. to try to iind some common ground. 

Rev. Henry Ward Beecher, in the Christian 
Union, in 1870, said : 

Their plan, which now for some time the\^ have 
been discussing in secret conclave, is so admirable, 
that it will take time to thoroughly understand 
its character and appreciate its merits. We are 
not sworn to secrecy, and we speak what we do 
know. 

The plan, then, which is now under considera- 



56 Romanism vs. The Public School System. 

tion, and wliicli awaits only some perfecting of de- 
tails before it is ofticially promulgated, is this : It 
will be proposed that any private association may 
open a public school. Its doors shall be thrown 
open to the public. There shall be no conditions of 
admission other than those which the Board of Edu- 
cation may prescribe. Its teachers shall all be sub- 
ject to the examination of the Board, and shall re- 
ceive their certilicates from it. The schools shall be 
at all times open to its visitation, and subject, within 
reasonable bounds, to such regulations as it may enact. 
In the school-house proper there shall be no I'eligious 
teaching. But when the session is ended, the teachers 
may employ additional houi's in giving such religious 
instruction as they see fit. Attendance on these extra 
hours shall not, however, be compulsory. Scholars 
may attend or not, at the option of their parents. 
Such schools, thus established, may draw from the 
school fund an amount in proportion to the number 
of scliolars in actual attendance. Such, in its sub- 
stantial features, is the plan at no distant day to be 
proposed as a compromise between the contending 
])arties. 

" The advantages of this scheme," said Mr. Beecher, 
"are manifest. It will involve the State in no addi- 
tional expenditure. It will, indeed, save something, 
for the association will provide the rooms and the 
text-books. Secular instruction will be furnished at 
the expense of the State. It will be furnished 
under the direction of the State. At the same time 
an opportmiity is afforded to the Church to instruct 
its own children in religious truth. Thus religious 
and secular instruction will go hand in hand. Brot- 
estantism and Romanism will liv^e in peace. The 
lion and tiie lamb will lie down together, and a little 
child shall lead them." 



Attempts at Gompeomise. 57 

This plan to which Mr. Beecher referred as inchoate 
in 1870, and in prospective development, had al- 
ready taken a partial form in some cities in Connec- 
ticut. In New Britain, Conn,, the Roman Catholic 
school was adopted by the town November 12, 1862, 
and was known as " the t9wn school." It was sup- 
ported by the town for the school year ending Au- 
gust 31, 1870, at an expense of over $3,000. It was 
then, as since, known and reported in the Sadlier's 
Catholic Almanac as St. Mary's Parochial School. 
In 1871 it reported, boys, 170 ; girls, 132, with lay 
teachers. Its male principal was a graduate of the 
State jSTormal School, with six female teachers, all 
Eoman Catholics, selected by the priest or other au- 
thority, and approved by the school visitors of the 
town. It works under the general regulations of the 
other town schools, and was supported at public ex- 
pense, but was a thoroughly denominational school. 
In 1888 Sadlier's Almanac gives the following item, 
under the head of " Parochial Schools " : St. Mary's, 
ISTew Britain, Sisters of Mercy, boys, 570; girls, 
551. 

In the city of New Haven the Roman Catholics 
gained their object at a school election, September 
16, 1867, when their ticket was elected by a majority 
of seventy votes. The Wew Englander'^ said : 

* October, 1S67. 



58 EoMANisM VS. The Puulic School System. 

The day before the balloting two of the Eomaii 
Catholic pastors of the city exhorted their parishion- 
ers to show their strength against " the Yankees ; " 
and in the third of the churches, the pastor being 
absent, the Catholic ticket was distributed through 
the children of the Sunday-school. One of the priests 
is reported to have said that he had been trying to 
secure public money for his parish school, and now 
was the time to demand it. 

The Hamilton or St. Patrick's school was soon 
adopted and supported at public expense. The steps 
leading to its adoption are related in the Report of 
the Board of Education of New Haven, for the year 
ending September 1, 18GS. They say: 

Early in the year Rev. Matthew Hart, in behalf of 
parents residing in the eastern part of the district, 
made application to the Board to receive the pupils 
of St. Pati'ick's school (about six hundred children) 
and instruct them as pupils of tiie public schools. 
The Board, after due consideration, believing it to 
be their duty to provide for the instruction of all 
children, residents of the school district, who make 
application, so far as it is in their power, decided to 
comply with the request, if suitable accommodations 
could be secured. The reply of the Board was com- 
municated in the following resolutions: 

Whe7'eas, Application has been made to this Board 
by Rev. Matthew Hart, requesting it to provide for 
the education of scholars now in St. Patrick's School, 
and for other children in that neighborhood now un- 
provided with seats in any school ; and whereas, this 
Board recognizes the duty of furnishing to all suita- 
ble applicants the opportunities for education in the 



Attempts at Compeomise. 59 

public schools under its charge ; and, whereas^ it has 
at this time no suitable building immediately availa- 
ble for the purpose of a school in that part of the 
district ; therefore, 

Resolved^ 1. That the Board is ready to rent for 
temporary use the building now occupied bj^ St. Pat- 
rick's School, or any building eligible for the purpose, 
and to commence and maintain therein a public 
school for the children of that neighborhood, on ex- 
actly the same basis as all other schools under their 
charge. 

2. That the Committee on School Buildings be re- 
quested to inquire and report to the Board as to a 
controlling lease of one or both the buildings now 
occupied by the St. Patrick's School, what alterations, 
if any, will be necessary to lit them for the use of a 
public school and the expenses attending the same ; 
said lease to commence in time, so that the rooms can 
be prepared for occupancy by the district for the May 
term of 1868. 

An agreement having been made for the rental of 
the building previously occupied by the school, after 
a thorough reconstruction at the expense of the own- 
ers, the school was opened under the charge and in- 
struction of ten teachers,* who had been previously 
examined by the Superintendent of Schools and found 
duly qualified for their duties. The studies and ex- 
ercises were regulated like all other schools of the dis- 
trict by " time-tables," containing a programme of 
recitations covering the whole time Of each school- 
day. Frequent visits have been made by the Super- 
intendent, members of the Board, citizens, and stran- 
gers from abroad, and the results thus far are quite 
satisfactory, exhibiting regularity of attendance, good 

* All Sisters of Mercy. 



GO EoMANiSM VS. The Public School System. 

order, and earnest attention to duties, liigliiy com- 
mendable to teachers and pupils. In all respects the 
school has been conducted in the same manner and 
governed by the same rules as all other schools of the 
district. 



Moreover, this school is understood to be an exclu- 
sively Koman Catholic school, the teachers being all 
Sisters of Mercy, and, with all the scholars, under the 
spiritual direction of the Roman Catholic Bishops, act- 
ing through the pastor of St. Patrick's Church, and 
securing to the pupils, by the opportunity of impart- 
ing religious instruction freely to the school out of 
school hours, a thoroughly Roman Catholic training. 
Under the head of Parochial Scliools Sadlier''s 
Catholic Year-Book for 1871 has "St. Patrick's, 
New Haven, pupils, 730, under the charge of the Sis- 
ters of Mercy." In 1888 the same appears: "Boys, 
400 ; girls, 460." Here is a Roman Catholic parochial 
school, supported at public expense, complying with 
the letter of the school law, but holding religious ex- 
ercises out of school hours. 

In Waterbury, Conn., a parochial school was or- 
ganized by Rev. Father Thomas F. Hendricken, 
pastor of the Church of the Immaculate Conception, 
but it was taken under the care of the Board of Edu- 
cation, of which Father Hendricken was usually a 
member, with the understanding that it was to con- 



Attempts at Compeomise. 61 

sist, as before, of Roman Catholic children and 
teachers, and the opening and closing exercises were 
to be distinctively Roman Catholic, as they had been, 
though the school was to conform in all respects to 
the laws of the district. In 1871 Sadlier's CatJiolic 
Year-Book reported it under the head of Parochial 
Schools, with 200 boys and 175 girls. In 1880 
it reported 1,100 pupils under lay teachers. Sisters of 
Charity. 

In Manchester, N. H., according to Sadlier''s Cath- 
olic Year-Booh, for 1870 there were fourteen pub- 
lic schools kept by fourteen Sisters of Mercy. The 
Year Book for 1888 shows 2,665 pupils in parochial 
schools in that city taught by Brothers of the Chris- 
tian schools. Sisters of Mercy, Sisters of the Holy 
Name, and Gray Kuns. 

"While the plan which Mr. Beecher, in 1870, more 
than hinted at was tentatively, but partially and in- 
formally introduced in some places, it has never been 
officially adopted or even recognized by the leaders 
of the Roman Catholic Church ; and all hope of such 
a compromise measure has now utterly vanished. 
Probably there never was any good ground for Mr. 
Beecher's suggestion. He doubtless consulted chiefly 
with his hopes and his imagination. The truth is, the 
Church of Rome is in toto opposed to the American 
Public School System. She is fully intent upon edu- 



f)2 Romanism vs. The Public School System, 

(rating her children in her own way, and means to 
gather them into her own schools. She hates our school 
system, and would be glad to overthrow it. Take 
out the Bible, and she is not then satisfied, as we have 
seen. The Roman Catholics do not introduce their 
own Bible, the Douay version, into their own schools. 
Tliey have never been anxious to have their people 
read their own Bible. The reading-books in tlieir 
schools have generally been such avowedly Catholic 
works as, Za Salle's Treatise on the Duty of Chris- 
tians towards God, and Collofs Doctrinal and Scrijjt- 
ural Catechism, which were used as class-books for 
reading and study. Their schools are always strictly 
denominational schools. 

The concessions to Romanists in New Haven and 
the other cities just cited was ill-advised, and never 
afforded any basis for any thing really hopeful, and 
it is, moreover, of doubtful legality. To consent to 
the use of public property and funds, directly or indi- 
rectly, in aid of sectarian schools is contrai-y to the 
spirit and letter of our unsectarian institutions. 



Attempts to Get Public School Funds. 63 



SECTION V. 
Attempts to Get Puhllc Sehool Fmids. 

WE have seen that as early as 1840, in New York 
city, many Roman Catholic children were taken 
out of the public schools and gathered into parochial 
schools. From 1840 to 1850 there was a similar 
movement in other large cities, though the number 
for the whole country was scarcely appreciable. 

As the work of organizing parochial schools yvent 
on, demands were made for their portion of the pub- 
lic school money raised by taxation ; not the portion 
raised from their own people, which would have been 
quite small, but in proportion to the number of chil- 
dren they could muster. 

In 1853 • this demand was made in eight different 
States — JSTew York, Massachusetts, New Jersey, 
Pennsylvania, Maryland, Ohio, Michigan, and Cali- 
fornia. If they had succeeded in these demands 
they would have gained two important objects : they 
would have drawn large sums from Protestant purses 
to support Poman Catholic schools ; and they would 
have thus effected a partial union between Church 
and State — objects dear to every Pomanist. The 



G-i: II0.MANISM VS. The Public School System. 

money of the Stute would liave been devoted 
to the payment of sectarian teachers, all of whom 
impart rigidly sectarian instruction. It was also ex- 
pected that if they succeeded in this object, all other 
religious denominations would ask for their share of 
the public school money. 

Thus, the funds provided in common for all being 
dissipated among the different sects, the Common 
School System would perish. This demand was not 
foj-mally acceded to, but by degrees, in New York 
city and a few other places, the Catholics have suc- 
ceeded in getting some appropriations of money 
which have aided their institutions. 

As late as about 1860, it is believed, there was no 
sectarian instruction in the public reformatory and 
charitable institutions of New York. All denomina- 
tions shared, without jealousy, in the work, in an 
unsectarian way. But in the year 1863, at the instance 
of Rev. Dr. Ives, a pervert to Romanism from the 
Protestant Episcopal Church, a charter was obtained 
for a " Roman Catholic Protectorate" for destitute or 
unfortunate children, to be supported by a public tax. 
All its officers and instructors were to be of one 
faith — the Roman Catholic, and they were to receive 
annually $110, instead of $70, per cajnta, as before. 
This was a papal triumph, invading the province of 
the Common School System. 



Attempts to Get Public School Funds. 65 

On the 12t]i of May, 1869, the tax levy law for 
]^ew York city was passed by the Legislature, allow- 
ing " an annual amount equal to twenty per cent, of the 
excise moneys received from said cities for 1868, 
to be distributed for the support of schools educating 
children gratuitously in that city." Another Eoman 
Catholic victory. 

Nearly all Protestants declined to receive these 
funds, protesting not only against tlie unequal dis- 
tribution proposed, but also against the principle rec- 
ognized in the " Bill," of appropriating money to 
sectarian schools, as fatal to the Common School Sj^s- 
tem. The people thus found themselves taxed for 
the support of sectarian education, the Roman Cath- 
olic faith being taught in the schools thus supported. 
The State and the Churcli were virtually united. A 
powerful agitation followed, and, through the vigorous 
efforts of Francis Lieber, LL.D., and the Union 
League Chib, this law was repealed in 1870. 

There arose a demand tliat many Roman Catholic 
asylums, protectories, etc., should be aided from the 
public treasury. Many of these were in part chari- 
table institutions, but a considerable number of them 
were of a mixed educational and industrial character, 
and some were purely parochial schools, Hon. Dexter 
A. Hawkins, A.M., a late member of the New York 
Bar, devoted much time to careful research into this 
5 



GO liOiiAxiSM vs. The Public School Svstsm. 

subject, compiling data collected from the public 
records in the offices of the Comptroller of the city of 
New York, of the Board of Education, of the Board 
of Apportionment, of the Commissioners of Emigra- 
tion, of the Comptroller of the State, and the State 
Commissioners of Charity, showing under what guises 
or names the Roman Catholic Church has drawn 
public money from the city and State treasuries. The 
following is a condensed exhibit : * 



MoxEYS Donated in Seventeen Years (1869-1885, inclusive) to 
THE Roman Catholic Church from the Public Treasury in 
THE city of Xew York. 

Tcital Amount 
Total for 17 Years, $10,915,371 81. (.aid k. raoh 

In>titiUiuii. 

New York Catholic Protectory $:),-l'Jl,5.S2 57 

Foundling Asylum of Sisters of Cliarity 2,872,474 89 

Institution of the Sisters of Mcrev ) 

Sisters of Mercy ". [• 81(;,230 95 

Institution of Mercy ) 

St. PJlizabeth Hospital Dispensnry 5,836 00 

Societyof St. Vincent de Paul of tlie city of New York. 80,5:50 50 

St. Vincent Industrial Home fur Girls 8.547 00 

St. Vincent Home for Boys 5,975 00 

St. Vincent de Paul Orphan Asylum 21,445 43 

Free School of St. Vincent dc p'anl 7,642 00 

St. Vincent's Hospital 60,692 00 

St. Vincent's Roman Catiiolic Orplum Asylum 15,000 00 

Free School of St. Vincent ' 2.500 00 

Home fdr the A^ed of Lifle Sisters of the Poor 39,600 00 

St. Stephen's Home for Children 205,001 24 

St. Stephen's Orphan House 17,244 43 

St. Stephen's Homo 2,150 00 

* See pamphlet by Mr. Hawkins. Phillips & Ihmt, 805 Broadway, 
New Y-ork city, N. Y. Last edition, lSs7, pp. ls-'2L The last c.litiou 
contains a reply to criticisms upon a i>re\"ious (.'dition made in the Vutholic 
World. 



Attempts to Get Public Scpiool Funds. G7 



Total amount ■ 
paid to eacU 
Institution. 

St. Francis's Hospital $78,911 75 

S^ Francis's Male Parochial School 3,750 00 

St. Francis's Female Parochial School 4,250 00 

Roman Catholic Orphan Asylum 306,504 80 

Asylum of the Sisters of St. Dominic 265.961 1 7 

Sisters of St. Dominic 25,722 20 

House of the Good Shepherd 297,983 36- 

Mission of Immaculate Virgin for Protecting Homeless 

and Destitute Children 308,532 15 

Missionary Sisters of the Order of St. Francis 161,023 06 

Sisters of'the Holy Cross 750 00 

House of Our Lady of the Rosary 6,125 25 

Asylum of Dominican Convent of OurLady of the Ptosary 65,698 63 

St. Joseph's Home for the Aged. . . .^ 46, 154 57 

St. Joseph's Industrial Home for Destitute Cliildren.. . 173,638 97 

St. Joseph's Orpiian As^ium 35,463 87 

St. Joseph's Improved Institute for Deaf Muies 151,792 69 

St. Joseph's Hospital of the Poor of St. Francis 1,800 00 

St. James's Home 49,457 38 

St. Ann's Home 19,301 24 

St. Agatha's Home 7,975 7 1 

St. Michael's Home 2,504 1 5 

Association for Befriending Children and Voin g Girl<. 57,352 43 

Baby's Shelter and Day Nursery '. 1,31 00 ' 

Day Nursery and Lod'g House lor Respectable Women. 266 00 

That the steady increase, year by year, during the 

last eleven years, may be seen, we give the yearly 
totals : 



1869 $771,612 04 

1870 676,495 55 

1871 502,592 65 

1872 421,674 03 

1873 • 338,336 24 

1874 ■ 326,797 90 

1875 • 459,187 48 

1876 554,285 98 

1877 588,677 31 



1878 ,. .. $710,350 98 

1879 .'. 693.616 29 

1880 719,957 06 

1881 748,989 48 

1882 817,520 93 

1883 814,182 84 

1884 862,190 85 

1885 908,904 20 



The next table will show no less than 56 Roman 
Catholic schools, besides other institutions, aided by 



68 Romanism vs. Tii?: Public School System. 

donations from the J3ublic treasury in four years, 

1869 to 1872, inclusive, all of wliicli is additional to 
the preceding table. 

Money Donated from tue Public Tkeasury of New York City 
TO THE Catholic Church — Continued. 

Totiil AiiKiunt 
paid to each 
Ir ftiuilion. 

St. Joseph's Church $5,206 58 

St. Joseph's Parish School, Manliattauville 12,954 00 

St. Josepli's Parochial Male School 6,222 00 

St. JosepJi's Parochial Female Sciiool G,S52 00 

Sisters of St. Joseph 10,000 00 

St. Joseph's Industrial School 900 00 

St. Joseph's German-Aniencaii Industrial Seliool 828 00 

German Free Schools of St, Joseph's Church, 125th Sueet 

and 9th Avenue : 420 00 

St. Joseph's Home 12,000 00 

C(mvent of the Sacred Heart 10,000 00 

Charity Week-day School Academy of Sacred Heart 6,170 00 

House of Mercy, Bloomingdale 12,500 00 

Church of Dommican Fathers 5,549 46 

Dominican Church, Lexington Avenue 7,000 00 

Sciiool of St. Nicliolas, Order of Si. Dominic 6,800 00 

St. Nicholas School 16,700 00 

St. Nicholas Cliurch a64 60 

St. Patrick's Orphan Asylum 8.153 44 

St. Patrick's Cathedral 17,857 08 

St. Patrick's Cathedral School 19,8:50 00 

St. Patrick's Orplian Asylum, UoU and Prince Streets 15,000 00 

St. Bridget's School 58,168 00 

St. Bridget's Church 5,000 00 

Sister Helena 4,317 85 

St. Teresa's School 22,135 00 

St. Teresa's Church 1,280 00 

School of St. Teresa's Chapel ■ 5,000 00 

In aid of school attached to St. Teresa's Churcli 5,000 00 

St, Ann's Parochial School 9,890 00 

St. Ann's Church, Eighth Street 2 173 33 

St. Peter's Free School 17.015 00 

German-American School, St. Peter's Cliurcli 1,500 00 

German-American Free School 1 8,456 00 

St. Paul's Church Parochial Schools 5,316 00 

Free Sciiool of St. Mary's Assuinpiion Chinch . 840 GO 



Attempts to Get Public School Funds. 69 

Tdtal iiiiKiuiit 
jiaid to fach 
Institution. 

St. Lawrence Church f L5U0 00 

Si. Lawrence Parish School 1 ii, 1 1 8 00 

St. Mary's School 55, 1 2'J 00 

St. Mary's Church, Grand Street 4 00 00 

Sisters of Charity, St. Mary's Churcli 140 00 

School of the Most Holy Redeemer 38,088 00 

St. Michael's Parochial' Scbool 10,462 00 

In aid of school attached to St. Michael's Gliurch 5,000 00 

St. Michael's School 5,000 00 

St. Gabriel's School 34,840 00 

Church of Transfiguration 387 75 

Transtia:uration Free School 39,596 00 

St. Janies's Parochial Male School 12,900 00 

St. James's Parochial Female School 31,548 00 

St. James's Clnirch 80i» 00 

School of our Lady of Sorrow 22,400 00 

St. Columba Charity and Week-day School 23.966 00, 

Church of the Holy Innocents 1, 1 24 50 

St. Andrew's Church 2,014 02 

Ciiurch of the Immaculate Conception 5,182 43 

School of the Immaculate Conception 38,878 00 

Church of St. Paul the Apostle 10,004 64 

German-American School, 19th Ward 5,850 00 

Church of St. Boniface 965 70 

St. John the Evangelist Free School for Girls 8,048 00 

Parish School Church of the Nativity 639 60 

Roman Catholic Church, Second Ave., Second and Third Sts. 645 45 

Church of the Holy Cross 8,565 35 

Parochial School Church of t!ie Holy Cross 1,272 00 

Church of the Holy Name, or St. Matthew 463 12 

Church of the Assumption 918 26 

Church of St. John tlie Baptist 1,035 31 

Parochial School of St. John the Baptist 1,560 00 

Free School of Sisters of Notre Dame 1,296 00 

Free German School 13,080 00 

German Mission Association 15,000 00 

College of St. Francis Xaxier 7,272 00 

St. Peter's 1,042 90 

St. Columba Church 1,987 28 

Church of the Covenant 652 60 

Cliurch of the Nativity 645 45 

Church of the Epiphany 765 71 

School of Bethlehem "770 00 

St. Boniface Church School 4,270 00 



70 Romanism vs. The Public School System. 

Total ainoiint 
paid to fiiuli 
Institiitioii. 

St. Patrick's Free School $7,384 00 

St. Francis Xavier Male School H,8G1 OO 

St. Francis Xavier Female School 21,370 00 

Sacred Heart Female Academy 3,000 00 

Chiircli of the Annunciation 3,174 00 

Clinrch of the Annunciation School 7,372 00 

St. Gabriel's Male School 7,449 00 

St. Gabriel's Female School 27,5!) 1 00 

St. Alphonsus's School 8,524 00 

Church of the Holy Redeemer 1,000 00 

Scliool of St. Francis oC Assisi 8.140 00 

School of the Holv Cross 0,744 00 

School of the Nativitj^ 700 00 

School of St. Chrysostom 2,165 00 

Orphan Asylum,' Prince and Mott Streets 10,000 00 

Sisters of St. Marv's 3,000 00 

School of the Order of Sisters of Si. Dominic 5,000 00 

Other Roman Catholic Institutions, New York Ciiy 202,095 00 

Total $1,101,344 01 

Total in the two tables * 12.010,7 15 82 

Of the above $712,469 were given to scliools, an 
amount much larger than tlie endowment of many 
Protestant colleges. AVlien has Home ever hesitated 
to pnt her hand into public treasuries ? 

Mr. Hawkins says : 

Some of the Protestant religious denominations re- 
ceive a small donation from the public treasury in this 
city for their charities, but they are opposed to the 
whole business, as recognizing the principle of a union 
of Church and State, and would be glad to have each 
tub stand on its own bottom — that is, each Church 
support its charities with its own money, and not with 
the money of others, but the Roman Catholics op- 
pose it." 



Attempts to Get Public School Funds. 71 

Mr. Hawkins then shows: 

How the Koman Gatiioltcs Evaded the Consti- 
tutional Amendments. 

In this cit}^ tliis Church was subsidized by the 
" Tweed Eing," and nearly $800,000 paid to it in a 
single year, 1869. In 1870 petitions from more than 
one hundred thousand citizens caused the Legislature 
to repeal the law, the repeal to take effect near the 
end of that year, imposing a perpetual tax of nearly 
$250,000 on this city for their parochial schools. 
Hence a falling off the next year, 1871, in the sub- 
sidy. On Washington's Birthday, 1872, a detailed 
exposure of this " Tweed Eing " subsidy for the three 
preceding years, to the extent of $1,396,389 51, was 
made by the writer, and the subsidy in consequence 
fell that year to $421,674 03. In tlie autumn of 1872 
the "Tweed Ring" were driven from powder in both 
the city and State. The writer remained at Albany 
nearly the entire sessions of 1873 and 1874, to expose 
and denounce this class of legislation, and the annual 
sectarian appropriation bills, that had grown to over 
$1,000,000, were wholly defeated. This subsidy in 
this city was in consequence reduced for 1873 to 
$338,336 24, and for 1874 to $326,797 90. Consti- 
tntional amendments were prepared in 1873, and 
finally adopted in 1874, which, had they not been in- 
terfered with, and two pestilent clauses Jesuitically 
introduced into the amendments to Article VIII, by 
the skill and influence of a Catholic membei' of the 
Constitutional Commission, would have cut those sub- 
sidies up by the roots. 

These two legal wolves in sheep's clothing were the 
apparently harmless phrase, "and juvenile delinquents" 
in Section 10, and the sentence, "This section shall not 



72 IloMxiNiSM VS. The Public School System. 

prevent such country, city, town, or village from mak- 
ing sucli provision fur the aid oi' support of its poor as 
may be authorized by law," in Section 11. 

Under the " juvenile delinquents," this Church 
saved chapter G47, Laws of 18H6, giving the Roman 
Catholic Protectory annually out of the city treasuiy 
$50 per head; and chapter 428, Laws of 1867, giving it 
annually $60 more per head (total $110 per head, or 
double the actual cost) of its inmates, thus securing a 
subsidy of from two to three hundred thousand dollars 
per year from the taxpayers, and, if well managed, a 
clear profit to the Church of at least $100,000. So 
profitable to this sect is this protectory that they keep 
sentinels on the watch at each police court to induce 
commitments to the protectory, and have had laws 
enacted compelling justices to commit to it. They 
made war on a public school connected with the city 
alms-house, and, by act of Legislature, broke it up, for 
the purpose of getting possession of a portion of the 
inmates to swell their own numbers and profits. 

Charity is the using of one's own means for the 
good of others. It is the highest Christian virtue, 
and the duty especially of all Churches ; but to get 
hold of and use the public money to make a profit and 
to build up a sect under the pretense of charity, is 
hypocrisy. 

Mr. Hawkins further sliows how the Ca,tholics again 
got into the public treasury : 

Immediately after the above amendment to Section 11 
of the Constitution was adopted this Church made haste 
to set its skilled talent to devise schemes to connect 
whole broods of their institutions by a sort of sectarian 
suction-hose with the pul)lic treasury. It accomplished 
this under the word " poor " in the above sentence in 



Attempts to Get Public School Funds. 73 

Section 11. It had the word " poor " defined by 
chapter 221, Laws of 1875, so as to include, araono; 
others, " the sick, destitute, friendless, and infirm," 
and the occupants of their enormous boarding-house, 
built on land given bj the city, and improperly called 
the " Foundling Asylum of the Sisters of Charity ; " 
and by the same statute they grabbed the excise 
moneys, thus adding several hundred thousand dollars 
more to their annual subsidy. 

These so-called " foundlings " may be two years old 
when received by the " Sisters," and may board with 
them, or under their control, till eighteen years old, if 
girls, and twenty -one years old, if boys. They may be 
indentured to this institution, if half orphans, by 
either the father or mother, and the mother may 
board there also to look after the children. For every 
child boarding there these " charitable Sisters " draw 
from the city treasury $138 70 per year, and for 
every mother boarding there $216 per year; total for 
a mother and child, 1354 70 per year, besides having 
the work of the children and mothers. 

Most of the hard-working laborers throughout 
the country would be glad to turn "j90w" and sup- 
port themselves if they could draw from the city 
treasury at this rate. These advantages to this sect 
are secured by chapter 635, Laws of 1 872 ; chapter 
611:, Laws of 1874, and chapter 43, Laws of 1877. 
The cost to the city treasury of this Church boarding- 
house of the Sisters of Charity is now between two 
and three hnndred thousand dollars per year, and if 
well managed brings annually not less than $100,000 
net profit to the Church. 

By concentrating their forces, and by a change of 
name or of statement as to what they are doing, so as 
on paper to appear to be " aiding or supporting the 
poor," nearly all their organizations have got back 



74 HoMANiSM VS. The Public School System. 

into the public treasury again, and the annual subsidy 
to this Church is now as great as in the palmy days of 
the " Tweed Ring." In the last two years in this city 
it drew from the public money $1,403,967 27. 

The}^ may call any persons in their schools and in- 
stitutions " the poor,'' and so pension them upon the 
public treasury. There is no investigation of their 
statements or accounts or supervision of their in- 
stitutions by any public officer, as common safety 
requires where the public money is paid out to them ; 
but whatever statement under oath they choose to 
make is accepted as the basis of payment to them. 

An amount of jniblic money equal to two and one 
half per cent, of the entire tax levy., or six per cent, 
of the administrative expenses of the entire city 
government., is thus paid annually to this Church in 
this city. 

Any taxpayer can from his tax bills readily calculate 
how much of this is exacted from him ; and this, too, 
in a country where a State Church is prohibited by the 
Constitution, and in a State where the organic law 
forbids "discrimination or favor" to any Church. 

An examination of the roll of taxpayers in this city 
shows that those belonging to the Roman Catholic 
Church pay about one-tenth part of the public taxes ; 
while they draw from the public treasury for the 
societies belonging to their churches nearly ten times 
as much as those of all the other religious sects to- 
gether. 

The fact that Roman Catholics excel all other sects 
in the number of their paupers and criminals, in this 
city, is no reason for thus pensioning this denomination 
upon the public ti'easury, but, on the contrary, is a 
reason against doing it; for the interests of the tax- 
payers, and of society, and of civilization all require 
that public support should not be given to a sect that 



Attempts to Get Public School Funds. 75 

has made sucli a signal failure in reducing pauperism 
and crime among its adherents. 

There is but one effectual remedy for these subsidies, 
and but one effectual way of putting a stop to this in- 
direct building up a State Clmrch with the public 
treasure, and enabling its satellites and dependents to 
liv^e on the public without work. 

It is for the taxpayers and the opponents of a State 
Church and a State religion, and all friends of toleration 
in religion, to insist upon the striking out of these two 
Jesuitical clauses in the State Constitution, and the 
repeal of the statutes they protect. 

The Roman Catholics have attempted to answer * 
Mr. Hawkins's allegations ; but, having examined both 
statements, we are unable to see that Mr. Hawkins has 
been impeached. 

In 1885 there was appropriated on State grants, out 
of the JSTew York city treasury and from the Excise 
Fund, about $1,600,000. Of this amount about 
$224,000 went to non-sectarian institutions, about 
$92,000 to Hebrew institutions, about $356,000 to 
Protestant institutions, about $933,000 to Roman 
Catholic institutions. f 

In the 'New York Legislature, January, 188 Y, a bill 
was introduced by Plon. Michael G. Murphy, which 
provided that " The schools established and maintained 

*The Eoman Catholic vindication, entitled Grants of Zand and nifU of 
Money, etc., was published in a pamphlet of 54 pages by the Catholic 
Publication Society Co., 8 Barclay Street, New York'city, 1880. 

t Eev. J. M. King, D.D., in an address before the Committee on the 
Affairs of Cities, Albany, 1885. 



76 Romanism vs. The Public School System. 

by the New York Catholic Protectory shall participate 
in the distribution of common school funds in the 
same manner and degree as the common schools of the 
city and county of New York " — a plain demand for 
sectarian appropriations and the destruction of the 
conunon school system. The bill failed, but it is a key 
to the piir23oses of the Roman Catholic Church. 

In August, 1887, the Roman Catholics in Lowell, 
Mass., apphed to the School Board of the city for a 
supply of school-books for their parochial schools, on the 
plea that they are bought by money raised by general tax 
for the free use of pupils. The reply was made that 
the Constitution of Massachusetts forbids the use of 
money raised for school purposes in aid of any denom- 
inational or sectarian scliools. 

A little later came the request of the Roman Cathohcs 
in the city of Maiden, Mass., that certain unoccupied 
public school rooms might be leased for a compensa- 
tion to the authorities of the Roman Catholic Church, 
for the use of their parochial schools. As these rooms 
had been emptied by the withdrawal of the children 
of Catholic parents from the public schools in order to 
place them in parochial schools, it was supposed that 
the same answer might have been returned as in the 
Lowell case ; but a subservient city council granted, 
almost unanimously, the request, fixing the rent at a 
merely nominal sum. These incidents have served to 



Attempts to Get Public School Funds. 77 

aroiise public attention to the encroachments of 
Romanism, and awaken apprehensions that in many 
places, through unscrupulous politicians, American in- 
stitutions may be periled. 

An important decision has just been rendered by the 
courts in Illinois adverse to the Roman Catholic 
Church, defeating a shrewd scheme for obtaining the 
public money for the support of their Industrial School 
for Girls. The result of the trial apj^eared in the 
Chicago Tribune^ October 2,1888. Under provisions 
of a law shrewdly pushed through the Legislature, 
presumably in the interest of the Romanists, depend- 
ent children can be committed to industrial institu- 
tions by the courts, their " tuition, maintenance, and 
care" to be paid for, by the county, at the rate of ten 
dollars per month. A large number of dependent 
girls were committed to the Roman Catholic Industrial 
School for Girls in Chicago. In process of time the man- 
agers of the institution presented a bill for settlement 
to the county treasurer, who declined to pay the bill. In 
the lower court the Roman Catholics gained their case. 
The Board of Commissioners of the county apjiealed to 
the Supreme Court, by which the decision of the lower 
court was reversed, on the ground that it would be an 
appropriation of public money in aid of a sectarian in- 
stitution, which would be contrary to the Constitution 
of the State of Illinois. The third clause of the eighth 



78 RoMAJS^isM vs. The Public School System. 

article provides that "neitlier the General Assembly nor 
any county, etc., shall ever make any appropriation 
or pay from any public fund whatever, any thing in aid 
of any church or sectarian purpose, or to help suj)- 
port or sustain any school, academy, etc., controlled 
by any church or sectarian denomination whatever." 
It was fully shown in the trial that said institution was 
controlled by the Roman Catholic Church, and that the 
instruction it furnished was of a sectarian character. 
To pay said bills would be an appropriation of the tax- 
payers' money for sectarian purposes. 

This question is likely to assume another phase, if we 
may accept what the J^reeman's Journal says. They 
are aware tliat the public school n)onoys in a consider- 
able number of States are guarded by constitutional * 
prohibitions against division for sectarian schools, and 
that if relieved from the burden of expense they must 
seek it in some other way. There are intimations that 
they will seek it by relief from what they call double 
taxation for schools. A very recent number of the 
Freemai^s Journal says of the school question : 

It is not really a question for the politicians, but a 
question for the courts. Can a large body of the people 
of Ne.w York and Brooklyn be forced to bear adoui>le 
tax, because the authorities insist that they must acecjit 
a non-Christian education or go without any ? This 
burden is forced on them now. Plow long, as the pro- 

* Sec Section of this volume. 



Attempts to Get Puelic School Funds. 79 

testing population increases, and as 'public opinion be- 
comes more enlightened, can it remain 'i If the Bap- 
tists, Methodists, and Presbyterians prefer Cliristless 
schools to the loss of money made necessary by the 
founding of schools of Christian morality, their de- 
mands for a share of the school fund, on conscientious 
grounds, might well be looked on witli suspicion. In 
our political system numbers count. The majority is 
supposed to settle all political questions. But the 
opinion of a large minority has weight in proportion 
to its numbers. As Catholics we are bound to have 
what we want, for tAvo reasons — we are right and we 
are numerous. Moreover, we have always been con- 
sistent on this public school question. Catholics ask 
for what they save the State. It is an enormous sum. 
With the multiplication of Catholic schools it becomes 
greater every year. If the Protestant Episcopalians 
build schools, let them have what they save the State. 
When the Congregationalists or the Hebrews can show 
schools like ours, they may consistently make the de- 
mand that we are making. 

The Catholic Citizen^ of Milwaukee, in a recent is- 
sue emphasized the statement that the Catholic paro- 
chial schools of that city save the city $1 5,000 a year. 
This is a bold hint that, therefore, they should be ex- 
empted from taxation for the support of the public 
schools. 

The subject of relief from taxation will be discussed 
under Question lY, Part II. 

As to the purposes of Romanists, Rev. Dr. McGlynn 
said : * 

* North Amtrlcan Review, August, 1887, p. I'JO. ' 



so Romanism va. The PuiiLic School System. 

The hope is not concealed that when the so-called 
"Catholic vote" shall become larger, the politicians may 
be induced to appropriate, tlu'ough State legislature or 
local government, all the funds necessai-y for the support 
of these schools. This has already been accomplished 
in Pouglikeepsie, New Haven, and elsewhere, and for 
a brief period during the offensive and defensive alli- 
ance between a certain set of priests and the Tammany 
Ring of the days of Tweed, Comiolly, and Sweeny, 
an appropriation procured by a legislative trick and 
fraud, under the management of Peter B. Sweeny, 
aw'arded several hundred thousand dollars to the paro- 
chial schools of New York city. . . . The extraor- 
dinary zeal manifested for the getting up of these sec- 
tarian schools and institutions is, first of all, prompted 
by jealousy and rivalry of our public schools and in- 
stitutions and by the desire to keep children and other 
beneficiaries from the latter ; and, secondly, by the de- 
sire to make employment for and give comfortable 
homes to the rapidly-increasing hosts of monks and 
nuns, who make so-called education and so-called charity 
their regular business, for which a very common ex- 
perience shows that they have but little qualification 
beyond their professional stamp and garb. It is not 
risking mncli to say that if there were no public schools 
there would be very few parochial schools; and the Cath- 
olic children, for all the churchmen would do for them, 
would grow up in brutish ignorance of letters ; and a 
commonplace of cliurchmen here would be the doctrine 
taught by the Jesuits in Italy, in their periodical mag- 
azine, the Chiilta Cattolica^ that the people do not 
need to learn to read ; that all they do need is bread 
and the catechism, the latter of which they could man- 
age to know something of even without knowing how 
to read. 



Constitutional Amendments. 81 



SECTION VI. 
Constitutional Amendments, 

DURIISrG the famous Know-JNTotliing excitements 
the need of constitutional prohibitions against 
the appropriation of school funds for sectarian schools 
was deeply felt and agitated. As the result, in some 
States, they were obtained. In 1855 the Constitution 
of Massachusetts was amended by adding the following 
provision: 

ARTICLE XVIII. 

All moneys raised by taxation in the towns and 
cities for the support of public schools, and all mon- 
eys which may be appropriated by the State for the 
support of common schools, shall be applied to and 
expended in no other schools than those which are 
conducted according to law, under the order and super- 
intendence of the authorities of the town or city in 
which the money is to be expended ; and such moneys 
shall never be appropriated to any religious sect for 
the maintenance, exclusively, of its own schools. 

The new Constitution of Pennsylvania, adopted in 
1874 by an overwhelming majority in the popular 
vote, contained the following : 

ARTICLE X. 

Section 1, The General Assembly shall provide for 
the maintenance and support of a thorough and 
6 



82 Romanism vs. The Public School Svstem. 

efficient system of public scliools, wherein all the chil- 
dren of this Comnionwealth above the age of six years 
may be educated. 

Sec. 2. No money raised for the support of the 
public schools of the Commonwealth shall be appro- 
priated to or used for the support of any sectarian 
school. 

In the winter of 1867-68. under the influence of 
the Roman Catholics, the following bill was intro- 
duced into tlie Legislature of Kew Yoi-k, " referred 
to the Committee on Colleges and Schools, was re^jorted 
back and printed." This bill, if it had been passed, 
would have ruined the public school system : 

An act entitled, An Act to amend the School Laws 
of the State of New York. The people of the State 
of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, 
do enact as follows : 

Section 1. The schools of the various religious 
societies within the State of New York shall partic- 
ipate in the distribution of the school moneys in the 
same manner and to the same extent, so far as relates 
to the teachers of said schools, where tlie number of 
scholars regularly attending number 100 or more. 

Sec. 2. The schools of the said societies shall be 
subject to the rules and regulations of the connnon 
schools in the said State, but shall remain under the 
immediate management and direction of the said 
societies as heretofore. 

Sec. 3. That said societies furnish the necessary 
building for said purpose. 

Sec. 4. This act shall take effect immediately. 

The bill was defeated. 



COKSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS. 83 

An amendment to the Constitution of New York 
was proposed in the Assembly, at Albany, by Mr. J. 
D. Brown, of Cayuga, January 3, 18Y2, forbidding 
an appropriation of public money for the benefit of 
sectarian schools, in these words : 

That no gift, loan, or appropriation of public money 
or property shall be authorized or made by the Legis- 
lature or by the corporate authorities of any county, 
city, town, or other municipal organization, to, or in 
favor or aid of any institution, association, or object, 
which is under ecclesiastical or sectarian management 
or control. 

On the 12th of April this amendment passed the 
Assembly, ayes 78, noes 14. 

May 10, in the Senate, the amendment passed, ayes, 
23 ; noes 5. 

It was necessary for this measure to pass the 
Legislature the second year, but its history w^e have 
been unable to clearly trace. It appears, however, to 
have been swamped with some other measures near 
the close 6f the legislative session. 

In the Congress of the United States several amend- 
ments to the national Constitution have been proposed, 
for the purpose of prohibiting the appropriation of 
public moneys to sectarian schools or institutions. 
April 19, 1870, Hon S. S. Burdett, of Missouri, pro- 
posed a new article to the United States Constitution, 
in the following words : 



84 EoMANisM VS. The Public School System. 

Section 1. No State or municipal corporation 
witliin any State of the United States shall levy or 
collect any tax for the support or aid of any sectarian, 
denominational, or religious school or educational 
establisliment ; nor shall the Legislature of any State 
or the corporate authorities of any municipality within 
any State appropriate any money or make any dona- 
tion from the public funds or property of such State 
or municipality, for the support or aid of any sectarian, 
religious, or denominational school or educational 
establishment. 

Sec. 2. Congress shall have power to enforce this 
article by appropriate legislation. 

December 19, 1871, Hon. William M. Stewart, 
Senator from Nevada, proposed the following amend- 
ment to the Constitution of the United States : 

Section 1. There shall be maintained in each State 
or Territory a system of free common schools, but 
neither the United States nor any State, Territory, 
county or municijDal corporation shall aid in the sup- 
port of any school wherein the peculiar tenets of any 
denomination are taught. 

Sec. 2. Congress shall have power, etc. 

Strong disapproval of the proposition was expressed 
by many, on the ground that such a measure was both 
unnecessary and mischievous — unnecessary because no 
danger could arise in any State from such action ; and 
mischievous because it would only tend to provoke a 
controversy over a question which, by the silent con- 
sent of all, was acquiesced in, if not agreed to. But the 
trend in the direction of constitutional action was too 



Constitutional Amendments. 85 

strong to be at once suppressed. During the Cen- 
tennial year the national perils and needs were closely 
studied, leading to a revival of this question. 

The memorable utterance of General Grant during 
our Centennial year helped forward the movement. 
He said : 

If we are to have another contest in the near future 
of our national existence I predict that the dividing 
line will not be Mason and Dixon's, but it will be 
between patriotism and intelligence on one side and 
superstition, ambition, and ignorance on the other. 
In this Centennial year the work of strengtliening 
the superstructure laid by our forefathers one hun- 
dred years ago, at Lexington, should be begun. Let 
us all labor for the security of free thought, free 
speech, free press, and pure morals, unfettered relig- 
ious sentiment, and equal rights and privileges for all 
men, irrespective of nationality, color, or religion. 
Encourage free schools, and resolve that not one dol- 
lar appropriated to them shall be applied to the sup- 
port of any sectarian school. Resolve that every child 
in the land may get a common school education un- 
mixed with atheistic, pagan, or sectarian teachings. 
Keep the Church and State forever separate. 

On the 14th of December, 1875, Hon. James G. 
Blaine, in the House of Representatives in Congress, 
proposed the following amendment to the Constitu- 
tion of the United States : 

ARTICLE XVI. 

No State shall make any law respecting an estab- 
lishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise 



86 KoMANisM VS. The Public School System. 

thereof ; and no money raised by taxation in any State 
fur the support of piibhc schools, or derived from any 
public fund therefor, nor any public lands devoted 
thereto, shall ever be under the control of any relig- 
ious sect (or denomination) ; nor shall any mone}^ so 
raised, or lands so devoted, be divided between relig- 
ions sects or denominations. (This article shall not 
vest, enlarge, or diminish legislative power in Con- 
gress.) 

August 4, 1876, the above was reported from the 
Judiciary Conmiittee, with the additions included in 
the brackets. 

The record says, " After a brief debate," the resolu- 
tion as reported, was agreed to, yeas, 180 ; nays, 7 ; 
not voting, 98. 

In the Senate, August 7, the above article was 
referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, with sev- 
eral substitutes offered for it. August 9, Hon. Mr. 
Edmunds, from the Committee on the Judiciary, re- 
ported the joint resolution with an amendment, in 
the nature of a substitute, as follows : 

ARTICLE XVI. 

No State shall make any law respecting an estab- 
lishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise 
thereof; and no religious test shall ever be required 
as a qualification to any office or public trust under 
any State. No public property, and no public reve- 
nue of, nor any loan of credit by or under the au- 
thority of the United States, or any State, Territory, 
district, or municipal corporation, shall be appropri- 



Constitutional Amendments. 87 

ated to or made or used, for the support of any 
school, educational, or other institution under the con- 
trol of any relio-Ious or anti-religious sect, organization, 
or denomination, or wherein the particular creed or 
tenets of any religious or anti-religious sect, organiza- 
tion, or denomination shall be taught. And no such 
particular creed or tenets shall be read or taught in 
any school or institution supported in whole or in 
part by such revenue or loan of credit ; and no such 
appropriation or loan of credit shall be made to any 
religious or anti-relio-ious sect, organization, or de- 
nommation, or to promote its interests or tenets, itiis 
article shall not be construed to prohibit the reading 
of the Bible in any school or institution ; and it shall 
not have the effect to impair rights of property al- 
ready vested. 

Sec. 2. — Congress shall have power, by appropriate 
legislation, to provide for the prevention or punish- 
ment of violations of this article. 

August 11 the subject was briefly debated, and the 
substitute of the committee was agreed to, yeas, 27; 
nays, 15. August 14 the Senate voted on the pas- 
sage of the joint resolution as amended, when it was 
disagreed to, yeas, 28 ; nays, 16, two tliirds being neces- 
sary. So the joint resolution failed for the want of 
two votes. In the House the political parties voted 
fro and con without drawing party lines ; in the 
Senate every affirmative vote was Republican and 
every negative vote was Democratic* 

* Tliese ftiels uuiy be verified by reference to McPliersoa's Haiid-Booh 
of Politics tbl- 1S76. 



88 Romanism vs. The Public School System. 

In the platform of the national Republican party, 
in 1876, the following plank (No. 7) occurs : 

The Public School system of the several States is 
the bulwark of the American Republic, and, with a 
view to its security and permanence, we recommend 
an amendment to the Constitution of the United States, 
forbidding the application of any public funds or prop- 
erty for the beneht of any schools or institutions un- 
der sectarian control. 

The Democratic National Convention, held soon 
after, adopted the following plank, in which the above 
is specified and condemned as " a false issue : " 

The false issue with which they (the Republicans) 
would enkindle sectarian strife in respect to the 
public schools, of which the establishment and sup- 
port belong exclusively to the several States, and 
which the Democratic party has cherished from their 
foundation, and is resolved to maintain without prej- 
udice or preference for any class, sect, or creed, and 
without largesses from the treasury to any. 

In the platform of the national Republican party 
in 1880, after a plank on the general subject of edu- 
cation, comes the following : 

4. The Constitution wholly forbids Congress to 
make any law respecting the establishment of relig- 
ion ; but it is idle to hope that tlie nation can be 
]:)rotected against the influence of (secret) sectarian- 
ism, while each State is exposed to its domination. 
AV'e, therefore, recommend that the Constitution be 
so amended as to lay the same prohibition upon the 
Legislature of each State, and to forbid the appro- 



Constitutional Amendments. 89 

priation of public funds to tlie support of sectarian 
schools. 

In tlie same year (1880) the Democratic National 
Convention in its platform declared itself in favor of — 

Separation of Church and State for the good of 
each ; common schools fostered and protected. 

In the platforms of the State Conventions of the 
Republican party in Massachusetts in 1887 and 1888 
a strong utterance appeared against sectarian schools. 

Thus it appears that the Republican party in Con- 
gress, in 1876, attempted to pass an amendment to 
the Constitution of the United States, prohibiting 
the appropriation of public moneys to any sectarian 
schools or institutions, and the measure, after passing 
with the necessary majority, in the House of Repre- 
sentatives, failed in the Senate for the want of two 
votes, the Democrats voting solidly against it, and 
the Republicans solidly for it; and, in the ]^ational 
Republican Conventions in 1876 and 1880 planks 
were put in the platform, calling in strong terms for 
such an amendment. In the year 1876 the Demo- 
cratic National Convention put into its platform a 
plank protesting against such an amendment, and in 
1880 it only very feebly declared itself in favor of 
fostering and protecting the common schools. 

The question has remained an open one. The 



90 EoMANisM m. The Public School System. 

danger to the common scliool system, from the divis- 
ion of its funds, should not be lost sight of. The 
enemies of tlie public school system are wide awake. 
They are too prudent to attempt to carry out their 
purpose at present, but they lose no opportunity to 
instill their ideas into the minds of those with whom 
they have influence. The Roman Catholic Church 
is persistently pushing forward to that end. There 
are, however, watchful statesmen who are ready for 
necessary action. 

In the Senate of the United States, May 2.5, 1888, 
Mr. Henry W. Blair introduced the following joint 
resolution, proposing an amendment to the Constitu- 
tion of the United States respecting the establishment 
of i-eligion and free public schools. The resolution 
was read twice and ordered to lie on the table. 

liesolved, hy the Senate and House of Representa- 
tives of the United States of America in Congress 
assembled {two thirds of each House concurring 
therein\ That the following amendment to tlie Con- 
stitution of the United States be, and hereby is, pro- 
posed to the States, to become valid when ratified by 
the legislatures of three fourths of the States as pro- 
vided in the Constitution. 

ARTICLE. 

Section 1. No State shall ever make or maintain 
any law respecting an establishment of religion, or 
prohibiting the free exercise thereof. 

Sec. 2. Each State in this Union shall establish and 



Constitutional Amendments. 91 

maintain a system of free puljlic schools adequate for 
tJie education of all the children living therein be- 
tween the ages of six and sixteen years, inclusive, in 
the common branches of knowledge, and in virtue, 
morality, and the principles of the Christian religion. 
But no monej' raised by taxation imposed by law, or 
any money or other property or credit belonging to 
any municipal organization, or to any State, or to the 
United States, shall ever be appropriated, applied, or 
given to the use or purposes of any school, institution, 
corporation, or person,whereby instruction or training 
shall be given in the doctrines, tenets, belief, ceremo- 
nials, or observances peculiar to any sect, denomina- 
tion, organization, or society, being, or claiming to be, 
religious in its character, nor shall such peculiar doc- 
trines, tenets, beliefs, ceremonials, or observances, be 
taught or inculcated in the free public schools. 

Sec. 3. To the end that each State, the United 
States, and all the people thereof, may have and pre- 
serve governments republican in form and in sub- 
stance, the United States shall guarantee to every 
State, and to the people of every State and of the 
United States, the support and maintenance of such a 
system of free public schools as is herein provided. 

Sec. 4. Congress shall enforce this article by legis- 
lation when necessary. 

The author has been anxious to ascertain how many 
of the States have constitutional restrictions or prohi- 
bitions against the appropriation of public school 
moneys for sectarian schools. He is at last able to 
make a statement on a high authority. The case is 
well covered by the following classified summaries : * 

* American Statute Law, by Fiederick J. Stinson, 1886. 



92 Romanism vs. The Public School System. 

1. By the constitutions of thirteen States no public 
money can be appropriated for the support of any 
sectarian or denominational school. 

]^ew Hampshire, Texas, 

Massachusetts, Missouri, 

Pennsylvania, California, 

Illinois, Colorado, 

Michigan, Alabama, 

Wisconsin, Louisiana, 
Minnesota. 

2. By the constitutious off our tee?i States no money 
can ever be taken from the public treasury in aid of 
any Church, sect, or sectarian institution. 

Pennsylvania, Texas. 

Indiana, Califoi'uia, 

Illinois, Oregon., 

Michigan, Colorado, 

Wisconsin, Georgia, 

Minnesota, Mississij^jn, 

Missouri, Louisiana. 

T^hefour Stat(>s printed in italics are not included 
in the previous list. 

3. In six States money cannot be appropriated for 
sectarian purposes or education by any municipal cor- 
poration. 

Illinois, Missouri, 

Virginia, California, 

West Virginia, Colorado. 

The two States printed in italics are not included 
in either of the previous lists. 

4. Nor in six States can property of the State ever 
be appropriated for such purpose. 



Constitutional Amendments. 93 

Illinois, Missouri, California, 

Michigan, - Texas, Colorado. 

5. I^or in four States can the ])rojpeTty of any 
iiiunicijpality be so appropriated. 

Illinois, California, 

Missouri, Colorado. 

6. In one instance the State cannot accept or grant 
a bequest to be used for sectarian purposes. 

Nebraska. 

7. In four States no public money can be appro- 
priated for any school not under the exclusive control 
of the State or its school department. 

Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, 

Maine, California. 

Maine is not included in any of the previous lists. 

8. In four States no sect shall ever have any ex- 
clusive right to, or control of, the State School Fund. 

Ohio, South Carolina, 

Kansas, Mississippi. 

Here are three States not before mentioned. 

9. In six S'tates no sectarian instruction is permitted, 
directly or indirectly, in any of the State schools. 

Wisconsin, California, Colorado, 

Nebraska, Nevada, South Carolina. 

10. In two States no money can be appropriated 

for religious services in the legislatures. 

Oregon, Michigan. 

By looking through the foregoing lists it will be seen 
that the appropriation of moneys for the aid of sec- 
tarian schools or institutions is substantially prohib- 
ited in twenty States, by constitutional provisions. 



94 lioMANisM VS. The Public School System. 



• SECTION VIL 

Hecent Papal ZTttevances and Acts En fore- 
iuff the Parochial School Systefn. 

THE official utterances of Rome have ever been 
unqnalilieclly against the pubHc school system. 
We have noticed that the First Provincial Council, 
in 1 829, expressed the wish that " schools might be 
established where youth might imbibe principles of 
faith and morality along with human knowledge." 
The Second Council, in 1833, appointed a committee 
" to revise and enlarge the books intended for Cath- 
olic youth." The First Plenary Council, in 1852, 
condemned the system of public schools where chil- 
dren of all denominations are admitted and religious 
teaching is excluded, and the bishops were instructed, 
if possible, to establish a school by the side of every 
church. 

In 1858 Bishop Hughes, in a public lecture in New 
York city, said : 

The Public School System is a disgrace to the civil- 
ization of the nineteenth century ; I hope to see the 
day when New Yoi'k will look Ijack upon it with 
shame and horror, that such a gross and miserable de- 



Recent Papal Utterances. " 95 

lusion could ever have been suffered to take possession 
of the public mind. 

The pope, in his famous Encyclical Letter, issued 
Decembers, 1864, specified certain "errors" which 
he officially condemned, among which are the follow- 
ing: 

The entire direction of public schools in wdiich the 
youth of Christian States are educated may and must 
appertain to the civil power, and belong to it so far 
that no other authority shall be recognized as having 
any right to interfere in the discipline of the schools, 
the arrangement of the studies, etc. 

The most advantageous conditions of civil society 
require that popular schools, open without distinction 
to all children of the people, and public establishments 
designed to teach young people letters and good disci- 
pline, and to impart to them education, should be freed 
from all ecclesiastical authority and interference, and 
should be fully subjected to the civil and political 
powers, for the teaching of matters and opinions com- 
mon to the times. 

These principles, so fundamental to the educational 
system of the United States, are condemned as 
" errors " by the pope, and the Roman Catholics of 
our country are enjoined to oppose them. 

Soon after the issuance of that famous Encyclical 
Letter the Second Plenary Council of .the Roman 
Catholic Church in the United States assembled in 
Baltimore, in the autumn of 1866. In this Council 
" parochial and industrial schools were recommended 



9G Romanism vs. The Public School System. 

and commanded, where possible, in two distinct 
decrees." 

This subject is treated under Title IX : De 
Juventute Instituenda Pleoque JEmdienda. The 
Council deplored that many Catholic children were 
exposed to evil influences in reformatory schools, in 
addition to the accumulated stock of such influences 
derived from their former habits of life. It was ad- 
mitted in the Pastoral Letter of 1866 that it was a 
melancholy fact that a very large proj)ortion of the 
idle and vicious youth of our principal cities Avere the 
children of Catholic parents, and it was there stated 
that the only remedy for the evil would be to provide 
Catholic protectories or industrial schools. Accord- 
ingly decrees as aforesaid were passed. 

Other high Roman Catholic authorities follow. In 
March, 1870, the TaNet said : 

There is no help but in dividing the public schools 
or in abandoning the system altogether. 

In their periodicals and lectures the common scliools 
have been ridiculed and denounced as " pits of de- 
struction," and "public soup-houses where children 
eat with wooden spoons." 

The editor of the Freemaii^s Journal said : 

Every such school is an insult to the religion and 
virtue of our people. 



Recent Papal Uttekances, 97 

A Roman Catholic orator said : 

The prototype of the American school system is 
seen in the institutions of paganism. 

During the winter of 1872-Y3 the Roman Catholic 
children were taken out of the public schools in Holy- 
oke, Mass. The Bishop of Cleveland, O., just before 
the Lent season, in 1873, published a "pastoral" 
which attracted considerable attention. It required 
Roman Catholic parents to send their children exclu- 
sively to their own church schools, under severe 
threats. In case of refusal to comply, the bishop 
" authorized confessors to refuse the sacraments to such 
parents as thus despise the laws of the Church, and 
disobey the commands of both priest and bishop." 
The public press commented severely uj)on this action, 
and the bishop replied, giving his %Llt'hnatum, which 
we here insert as taken from the Brooklyn CatJiolic 
Review , March 22, 1873 : 

Finally the bishop submits the following propo- 
sitions to the School Board of Cleveland, promising 
that if they are accepted he will put the Catholic 
schools under the control of the Board ; if they are re- 
jected, Catholics will know that they have notliing but 
injustice to look for : 

1. We shall build our school-houses and collect 
into them our children. When there we shall place 
them and their teachers, during school hours, under 
the entire control of the School Board, receiving from 
the School Board such directions as it may give. 
7 



98 Romanism vs. Tiiic Puhliu School Svsticm. 

2. During school lioiirs no religion or religious in- 
struction of any kind shall be given. 

For these concessions, which certainly are all that 
could be demanded, we will only ask that either be- 
fore or after school hours we shall be permitted, in 
our own way, to instruct our children in their religion. 
And secondly, t/iat the teacJiers shall he Catholics and 
paid Ijy the School Board. The italics are ours. 

At the opening of a new Roman Catholic school in 
Worcester, Mass., in January, 1875, Bishop McQuaid 
said : 

We are going to have a desperate struggle on this 
question all over this country for the next generation. 
Not one with the musket, but with the ballot and all 
the levers of public opinion. I know the American 
people are sometimes slow to give up their strong 
prejudices, but they are always ready to listen to fair 
argument. 

The Sacred Congregation de rropaganda Fide., 
in a letter to the bishops of the United States, in 
1875, assigned t\\'o fundamental reasons for its con- 
demnation of our jniblic school system : 

1. The system . . . excludes all teaching of re- 
ligion. 

2. Certain corruption likewise ensues from the fact 
tliat in the same schools, or in many of them, youths 
of both sexes are congregated in the same room for 
the recitation of lessons, and males and females are 
ordered to sit on the same bench {in eodem, scamnd), 
all which have the effect of lamentably exposing the 
young to loss in faith and endangering of morals. 



Recent Papal Utterances. 99 

The Last Plenary Council. 

Mucli lias been said of late about tlie action of the 
Roman Catholic Plenary Council in Baltimore, Novem- 
ber, 1884. Its utterances were not new, but were more 
explicit and decided than those of previous councils, 
and it concerted measures for carrying out more fully 
the policy of Rome in regard to parochial schools. 

In the Prize Essay before the Council, entitled, 
" The Catholic Church in the United States," by John 
A. Russell, A.B., M^e find the following declarations : 

For thirty years and more the Catholic population 
of this country have been forced to pay tribute to a 
system of godless education of which no one can con- 
scientiously take advantage. The Catholic protests 
against paying for the education of other than their own 
children were made in the earliest days of the Know 
Nothing era, and were hurled back as arguments in 
favor of the enmity of Catholics to free institutions. 
But Know-Nothingism has passed away, and the school 
question still remains in all its glaring injustice. Mill- 
ions of money are annually taken from Catholics for 
the support of schools in which they have no interest. 
The Catholic considers it unfair to tax him for the sup- 
port of schools from which all ideas of religion are 
excluded, nor can he accept those in which a false re- 
ligion is taught ; for between godlessness and error the 
choice is only slightly in favor of the latter. 

The formal declaration of the Plenary Council of 
1884 was : 



100 Romanism vs. The Public School System. 

The friends of Christian (that is, Catholic) educa- 
tion do not condemn the State for not imparting re- 
ligious instruction in the public schools, as they are 
now organized, because they well know it does not 
lie within the province of the Stnte to teach religion. 
They simply follow their conscience by sending their 
children to denominational (that is, Catholic) schools, 
where religion can have its rightful place. Two ob- 
jects, therefore, dear brethren, we have in view — to 
multiply our schools and to perfect them. We must 
multiply them until every Catholic child in the land 
shall have within its reach the means of education. 
There is still much to do ere this be attained. There 
are still thousands of Catholic children in the United 
States deprived of the benefit of a Catholic school. 
Pastors and parents should not rest till this defect is 
remedied. No parish is complete till it has schools 
adequate to the needs of its children, and the pastor 
and people of such a parish should feel that they ha've 
not accomplished their entire duty until this want is 
supplied.* 

In a sermon by Rt. Rev. Bernard J. McQuaid, 

D.D., Bisliop of Rochester, N. Y., before the same 

Plenary Council, a freer utterance was given to the 

feelings of the Roman Catholics on this subject. He 

said : 

Scarcely had the work of building churches for 
our rapidly-increasing population been taken in hand 
by priests and people than a yet heavier task was 
imposed upon them. Churches might suffice for the 
elders of the flock, who, trained to religion in a Catli- 

* Memorial Volume of the Third Pknar// Council. Baltimore rublish- 
iiigCo. 18S5. bvo. Pastoral Loiter, p. 17. 



Recent Papal Uttekances. 101 

olie atmosphere at home, could neither be cajoled nor 
deterred from its practices ; but wliat was to become of 
children growing up in an atmosphere not simply 
innocuous, but positively dangerous and hurtful ? 
Bishops and priests were most unwilling to add to the 
burden already weighing down their congregations. 
They sought, as well in justice they might, that a 
portion of their own money paid to the State might 
come back to them. Unkindly, rudely, contemptu- 
ously, their reasonable request was spurned. Poli- 
ticians and parsons were our fiercest antagonists. 
When passions are aroused, it is useless to argue. 
The i3assions of a nation cool slowly. There Avere 
some Catholics who hoped that an education purely- 
secular might.be made to answer. No doubt it will 
give to the children of secularists the husks of edu- 
cation — all they ask. They wonder that Catholics 
seek for more. They cannot comprehend our doc- 
trine, that the school for the child is as necessary as 
the church for the parent. Without further argu- 
ment or dispute, but, nevertheless, grieving and 
groaning under the wrong put upon us, l)y process 
of law and the vote of the majority. Catholics gath- 
ered their children into their own schools, that 
therein they might breathe a Catholic atmosphere 
while acquiring secular knowledge. 

Without these schools in a few generations our 
magnificent cathedrals and churches would remain as 
samples of monumental folly — of the unwisdom of a 
capitalist who consumes his future, year by year, with- 
out putting it out at interest or allowing it to in- 
crease. The Church has lost more in the past from 
tlie want of Catholic schools than from any other 
cause named by me this evening. The 2,500 schools, 
with a half million scholars, which now bless our 
country, tell Catholics and non-Catholics that the 



Iu2 Romanism vs. The Public School System. 

question of religions edncation is settled so far as 
we are concerned. The good work so well advanced 
will not halt until all over the land the children of 
the Church are slieltered under her protecting 
care.* 

Other Catholic Authorities. 
Not long ago the Catholic Review said : 

There is no longer a school question for Catholics. 
It is closed. The door of discussion, which was 
slightly ajar prior to 1884, was closed, locked, bolted, 
and barred by the Plenary Council held in that year, 
which directed that Christian schools should be main- 
tained by all the parishes in the United States not 
prevented by extreme poverty from -cari-ying them 
on. The decree is law for priests and people. 

In an address delivered in Boston on the 22d of 
December, 1887, Rev. Father F. T. McCarthy, S. J., 
read from a work by Father Connolly, S. J., the fol- 
lowing : 

The Sacred Congregation of the Inquisition in a 
detailed instruction to the bishops of the United 
States concerning the public schools, June 30, 1876, 
after quoting the last sentence of the above citation, 
adds the folloMnng words : These words, inasmuch 
as they are based on the natural and divine law, 
enunciate a general principle which holds universally, 
and refers to all places where this most destructive 
system has been unfortunately introduced. It is, 
therefore, necessary that the illustrious prelates should 
by all possible means keep the flock intrusted to their 

* Memorial Volume of the Third Plenary Council. 1684. Baltimore 
Publishing Co., p. 174. 



Recent Papal Utterances. 103 

charge aloof from the corrupting influences of the 
public schools. In the opinion of all, nothing is so 
necessary for this end as that Catholics should every- 
where have their own schools, and these not inferior 
to the public schools. Every effort must, therefore, 
be made to erect Catholic schools where such do not 
exist, or to enlarge them and make them more use- 
ful and efficient, that in the course and method of 
training they may be in no sense inferior to the pub- 
lic schools. The Sacred Congregation grants that 
there may be circumstances in whicli Catholic parents 
may in conscience send their children to American 
public schools ; namely, when no Catholic school is at 
hand, or when that which is at hand is not fit to give 
the children an education suited to their station and 
conformable to their age. 

Father McCarthy then proceeds : 

It is to be remembered, however, that the fre- 
quenting of the public schools can be permitted even 
in these cases, according to the declaration of the 
Sacred Congregation, only when the danger of per- 
version can be rendered remote. On that the decision 
is left to the bishop, and not to the parents of the 
children. So that even in the circumstance that I 
have described, even where there is no Catholic school 
at hand, it is not lawful for Catholic parents to send 
their children to these public schools, unless they can 
and unless they will make the danger of perversion, 
from being approximate, become remote. And when 
there is a doubt at all with regard to the matter the 
judge in this case is not to be the parent ; he is not 
to be the judge, but the bishop of the diocese. 

ISTow, in order to show you that this legislation ex- 
tends to the whole country and that it extends to this 
part of the country, I may mention a fact that ought 



104 Romanism vs. The Public School System. 

to have a great deal of weight with you Catliolics of 
the Diocese of Boston. In the synod which was held 
within the past year and a half in this diocese the 
archbishop expressly declared that in all parishes 
Catholic schools were to be built ; that they were to 
be built as soon as possible ; that they were to be 
under way, at all events, 'within two years., and that 
a, pastor having the ahility to huild such schools., and 
failing to do it., would give sufficient canonical cause 
for his removal from that jyarish. This is the utter- 
ance of the highest ecclesiastical authority in this 
State of Massachusetts. 

Now^, dearly l^eloved, here is the sense of the Cath- 
olic Church. Here is her teaching from the pope 
and the council general, down to the bishops and 
to the priests, that Catholic schools are to be built. 
Catholic schools are to be supported, that the chil- 
dren of Catholics are to be sent to these schools and 
to no other, that religion must be taught in the 
schools, that religion and education must go hand in 
hand, that there is no education worthy of the name 
without the teaching of religion, and this must be 
done without any let or hinderance on the part of any 
one whatsoever. This is certainly to impose a great 
burden upon you. We appreciate it. But, dearly 
beloved, at the same time we impose a great burden 
upon ourselves. It would be a great deal more for 
our comfort if we were simply to allow our children 
to go to the public schools, to pay our school taxes, 
and to give ourselves no concern about the matter 
any further. 

The Record^ (Boston) quoted the following late 
utterances from the Freeman^ s Journal: 

* August, 18S8. 



Recent Papal Uttekances. 105 

Look at Catholic scliool-lionses throngliout the 
country, supported by the exertions of our priests and 
the hard work of our people, and say whether public 
opinion ^n consistently hold that Catholics have not 
proven their sincerity in the matter. They have 
gone down deep into their pockets. We want justice. 
We want a fair per capita share of the school funds. 
We want to be on an equal footing with our fellow- 
citizens, who, if they have children, receive a return 
for the taxes they pay. Let our Protestant friends 
awaken to the danger' wliicli godless schools threaten 
the American people, and join with us, insisting that 
the school is the church of the little ones, and that it 
should be sacred to Christ. 

The Transcript^ (Boston) quotes from the M''ee- 

maoi's Journal : 

The Catholic attitude on the school question is un- 
compromising. We will not permit our money to be 
used for the propagation of lies like those noticed in 
Boston, and in Brooklyn by Father Donahoe. Igno- 
rant Calvinistic ministers — and when they are igno- 
rant how ignorant they are ! — must broaden their 
views. They protest in vain. Swinton's lies about 
indulgences must be put out of schools for whose sup- 
port we pay. Sectarianism shall not be taught in a 
professedly " colorless " school while there is justice 
in the courts. The State has no right to educate, but 
every right to protect itself against parental careless- 
ness. As the State taxes us for schools we must be 
represented in them ! As American citizens we can- 
not submit to taxation without representation. As 
Catholics we cannot allow the State either to teach 
sectarianism to our children, or to increase a school 

* August 1, 1888. 



106 Romanism vs. The Public School System. 

system of which we cannot approve with our money. 
There is no divergence betvi^een our duty as citizens 
and our dutj' as Catholics. 

Enforcement. 
In tlie autumn of 1879 serious trouble occurred in 
Sr. Mary's parish, Cambridge, Mass., Father Scully 
pastor. Four or five years previously a parochial 
school had been established, and all Catholic parents 
had been ordered to senjd their children to the 
Church schools and to contribute to their support. 
The quality of the instruction imparted was soon 
found to be inferior to that of the public schools, 
on account of which some children were with- 
drawnj and sent again to the public schools. 
Against these parents Father Scully directed all the 
ecclesiastical weapons at his command. He taught 
his people to shun and ignore such parents and their 
children * as if they were Protestants, and refused them 
the sacraments. Some parents went to other priests in 
other parishes for the spiritual consolations which 
Father Scully denied them. These priests were openly 
blamed by Father Scully. He made war upon them, 
claiming that by tlie canons of the Church he had the 
sole charge of tlie people of his parish, and no one 
but he and his assistant could " forgive their sins and 

* One boy is said to liavo been so severely floj^ged that he was unable 
to sit up for two weeks. 



Recent Enforcement. 107 

send them to heaven." For this claim to an exchisive 
celestial monopoly he cited the authority of the 
archbishop, and sent to him the names of all the of- 
fending parents, children, and priests. 

It is a remarkable fact that Archbishop "Williams 
seemed to give his support to the belligerent priest. 
He refused to receive a committee sent from the 
parish to present complaints against Father Scully, 
but a committee sent in his behalf he received, and 
said that Father Scully's coui'se met his entire ap- 
proval. In a speech in a parish meeting, Father 
Scully said that other priests in the diocese were 
about to follow his example, in the erection of paro- 
chial schools, and that for him to give the sacraments of 
the altar to those who were sending their children to 
the public schools would be "to incur for himself 
eternal damnation, and leave them without salvation, 
too." His short and distinct answer to those hesitat- 
ing or expressing dissent, in his congregation, was, 
" Do as I bid you, and I will forgive your sins and 
send you to heaven ; disobey me, an.d jou will be 
lost." 

A Boston daily, commenting on the case, said : 
" The archbishop, in our judgment, has made a se- 
rious mistake in sustaining Father Scully''s mischiev- 
ous procedure, by the sanction of his high authority." 
But the bishop's action, and Father Scully's action. 



108 Romanism vs. The Public School System. 

too, are perfectly logical from tlie premises on which- 
their religion is predicated." 

The Boston Journal * said in an editorial : 

There is some ground to hope that the more liberal 
and intelligent Catholics will not yield abject obedience 
to the new policy, and that there may be developed 
within the Catholic Church snch a degree of resist- 
ance as may make the full execution of such measures 
impracticable. In Belgium the priests, being excluded 
from the control of the public schools which they 
have long enjoyed, have established schools of their 
own — many of them grotescpiely weak and inadequate 
— and have ordered the exclusion from the sacrament 
of. teachers, pai'ents and children who continue to 
support or attend the government schools. The course 
of Archbishop Williams is calculated to make a Bel- 
gium out of Massachusetts. But the Belgian gov- 
ernment schools are maintained, notwithstanding, and 
Catholic children are sent to them. There is at least 
as much liberty and individuality in Massachusetts as 
in Belgium, and it would hardly be supposed that a 
policy which proves too arrogant to accomplish its 
purpose among Belgian Catholics would be tried here. 
The attempt to do it is interesting, and in a certain 
sense startling, and the outcome of it will be closely 
watched. 

This agitation led to a formal proclamation of the 
archbishop's views by his Yicar-General soon after, 
sustaining and enforcing the parochial school policy 
of the Church. 

In 1879 the Very Eev. William Byrne, Vicar-Gren- 

* November 12, 1879. 



Recent Enforcement. 109 

eral of the Archdiocese of Boston, prepared a paper 
upon the parochial school question, of wJiich we give 
a part of the abstract as printed in The Pilot (Roman 
Catholic), November 15 : 

From the decrees of the Second Plenary Council 
of Baltimore the following propositions are, we think, 
fairly deduced, and will be accepted by all Catholics : 

1st. That the Church is solicitous for the proper 
education of the young. 

2d. That she does not approve of a system of pop- 
ular education that seeks to impart a knowledge of 
earthly things ouly, and that, too, apart from her over- 
sight and iniluence. 

3d. That pastors of souls may properly concern 
themselves with the education of the children of the 
flock. 

4th. That the American Public School System is 
defective in theory, inasmuch as it does not provide 
for the culture of the moral faculties, and in practice 
tends to evil results. 

5th. That this system, by its very nature, tends to 
indifierentism in matters of religion, and in the hands 
of designing men can easily be used as an engine of 
perversion. 

6th. That the manner in which tlie public schools 
are, in most places, conducted, renders them a source 
of danger to the faith and morals of the Catholic 
children attending them. 

7th, That Catholics should endeavor to correct the 
evils and counteract the dangers of the public schools. 

8t]i. That the best safeguard against these dangers 
is the Catholic parochial school. 

9th. That pastors and parents, where the public 
schools are, as a matter of fact, dangerous, and espe- 



110 Romanism vs. The Public School Systejl 

cially wliere these evils are great, should labor to the 
best of their ability and means to establish Catholic 
schools for Catholic children. 

Where suitable Catholic schools are accessible the 
parents' duty is plain. 

The practical question licre arises as to whether we 
Catholics, holding these views, can with a safe con- 
science use the public schools at all, even in the ab- 
sence of any better. 

The question involves a matter of principle and a 
matter of fact. 

The principle is settled, and is easily stated. 

Where the public schools are in fact so dangerous 
that the result is, or, according to common experience, 
most likely to be damage to faith or morals, they can- 
not, of course, be prudently used, and must be avoided 
at all hazards and at whatever cost. No person can 
without sin voluntarily expose himself to the prox- 
imate occasion thereof. 

Where the public schools are not positively harm- 
ful, and the danger is remote, they can be used in the 
absence of suitable Catholic schools, prudent precau- 
tion being taken to avert such danger as there is, and 
reasonable care being taken to supply the defects of 
the system in some efficient way. 

The doubt hangs on the matter of fact. 

Are our public schools here in Boston so dangerous 
that a prudent Catholic is in duty bound to keep his 
children away from them, where no Catholic schools 
exist and cannot conveniently be built? 

This doubt has never been settled b}' any formal 
decision of a competent authority. The tolerated 
usage of the public schools that obtains here is the 
nearest approach to a solution that we have. 

Kome has given no decision as to the gravity of the 
danger in this country, and, whenever appealed to, has 



Elcknt Enfoecement. Ill 

referred tliis matter of ilict to the jiidi^nnent of the 
bishops in council, or to each bishop in and for his 
own diocese. 

Several bishops have decided the case for their own 
dioceses, with a thorough knowledge of the facts as 
they were in their districts, and have declared that the 
obligation of withdrawing Catholic children from the 
public schools where Catholic schools exist was of the 
gravest character, and that the duty of providing 
Catholic schools was of such prime importance that 
the establishment of a school should accompany the 
erection of a church in a parish. 

The Council of Baltimore has decided that danger 
inheres in the very system itself, but has not under- 
taken to say what the amount of danger is in any 
given place. Manifestly the system, as reduced to 
practice, varies enormously as to its danger, in differ-- 
ent places, and even in the same place, for different 
persons. 

The schools we are warned against, as specially and 
seriously dangerous, are those in which Catholic chil- 
dren are induced to read the Protestant version of the 
Bible, to join in heretical forms of prayer, and to sing 
tiie hymns of the sects, or where the Catholic religion 
is attacked, her doctrines controverted, and the facts 
of history distorted, to vilify and render odious the 
Catholic Church and her institntions. 

Apart from the dangers inhering in the system itself, 
which arise chiefly from defect, most of these in- 
cidental evils are absent from the public schools of 
Boston. The children are not required to read the 
Protestant version of the Scriptures or to recite un- 
Catholic prayers. The books in use are now pretty 
thoroughly purged of all sectarian or anti-Catholic 
leaven ; the mouth of the reviler is closed, and at least 
no open or direct attempts at proselytism allowed. 



112 HoMANisM V6: The PuiiLic School System. 

That the spirit of proselytism is abroad we know full 
well, and it has full play in some quarters, notably in 
the State Reform Schools. The proposed action of 
the Legislature would go far to remedy that abuse. 

Our use of the public schools, or our co-operation 
in carrying them on, when given with a view of cor- 
recting the evils in them, cannot fairly be construed 
into an approval of them. I can use a poor road in 
the absence of a better without being said to approve 
the bad construction of the road or the ruts that in- 
fest it. 

We are not quite content with the public schools 
as they are, and yet, in most of our parishes the bur- 
den of church debts carried, tiie pressing calls for the 
support of our hospitals, orphanages, asylums, and 
homes for the poor, are so urgent and imperative that 
little can be done toward establishing Catliolic schools 
even by those who hold that they are the safest for 
our Catholic children. . 

We admit that the education of the children of the 
"vvhole people, in schools connnon to all and frequented 
by all, has many temporal advantages, but we can 
never reasonably or conscientiously consent to sacrifice 
or seriously endanger our eternal interests for worldly 
advantage. 

The rapidly-growing fairness of public opinion may 
ere long discover a M^ay of making a system of com- 
mon school education acceptable to Catholic minds 
and safe for Catholic consciences. 

That the problem is not absolutely insolvable is 
shown by the success of some other countries in deal- 
ing with it in somewhat similar circumstances. Bel- 
gium, Holland, England, and Lower Canada, are cited 
as instances. 

Prussia, before she became blinded by pride, was an 
illustrious example. 



Recent Enfokcbment. 113 

The foregoing document lias been given at sucli 
length in the interest of fairness, and to facilitate the 
close study of the problem which manj are deeply 
pondering. 

About the same time The Pilot contained a state- 
ment, authorized by his Grace the Archbishop,* set- 
ting forth substantially what his vicar-general had 
given in his paper. He added that Catholics are 
agreed on the principle and purpose of establishing 
parochial schools, and " differ, if at all, only as regards 
the feasibility, opportuneness, or best methods of giv- 
ing these principles practical effect ;" and he urged 
that these schools " be established wherever practicable 
in every parish, and as far as possible made equal to 
the public schools." " Parochial schools are regarded 
as practicable," continues the archbishop, " where 
their establishment and support would not create any 



* Eev. Joseph Cook, commenting upon the case of Father Scully, said : 
" When a boy is stretched on a table, yonder at Cambridgeport, and his 
back lashed till for two weeks the boy cannot lie down on account of his 
■wounds [sensation], the eyes of the mother and fatioer of that boy are 
very likely to be opened. His only crime was attending a ])ublic school, 
"when the priest had given warning that he should attend the parochial. 
. . . Archbishop Williams, of Boston, whisj^ers to Father Scully, of Cam- 
bridgeport, : 'Hist! No noisy barking against the American public 
schools. A still-hunt is what the Church wants. The pai-ochial schools 
are to be defended and the public schools assailed unflinchingly, but with 
prudence, ■with suavity, with opportuneness.' The manly outspokenness 
of the priest is preferred to the politic indii'ection of the archbishop. [Ap- 
plause]. Bunker Hill, Faneuil Hall, the Old South, listen to this col- 
loquy and whisper to each other: ' Whom the gods would destroy tliey 
first make mad.' O, Lord ! now let the prayers of our fathers be fulfilled 
abundantly, that the love of good learning may not be buried in their 
graves.'' 



114 KoMANisM VS. The Public School System. 

serious financial embarrassment or impose too griev- 
ous a burden on the resources of the faithful." Fur- 
ther on we have these astonishing declarations, in 
which' much is contained between the lines: "Any 
priest hearing confessions in the private tribunal of 
penance is free, in the exercise of his faculties, in this, 
as in all other cases, to give or withhold absolution, 
guided by the disposition of the- penitent and his own 
judgment and discretion, and his knowledge of the 
facts and principles involved." 

At West Chester, in Pennsylvania,* the priest of 
St. Agnes Church excommunicated two pew-holders, 
Philip Maguire and William S. Bowen, because they 
withdrew their children from a parochial school and 
sent them to a public school. The priest gave his reasons 
for this action at mass, and this is what the priest said : 

These gentlemen were excommunicated on my own 
authority and the authority of the archbishop, with 
whom I had consulted in the matter. I took their 
pews from them, because I do not propose that any 
one sliall hold a pew in this church who is in open 
rebellion against its laws, when there are faithful and 
obedient members who are willing to occupy them. 
Mr. Bowen had the audacity to apply for communion 
last Easter morning, and was pul)licly refused. I had 
consulted with the archbishop months l)efore in refer- 
ence to this matter, and it was on the strength of this, and 
of a letter from his grace, that the refusal was made. 

* The Boston Trarif^cript, June, 1S8S. * 



Kecent Enfokcement. ^ 115 

And this is what Mr. Maguire says : 

The reverend gentleman saw fit to use my name in 
connection with my refusal to send my child to the 
parochial school, and also notified those of his con- 
gregation present that I was formally excommunicated 
for this refusal ; but he wisely took good care not to 
state the reason for my refusal to have the boy longer 
educated at the parish school. I took the boy away 
because, in my judgment, the school was far inferior 
to the public schools of West Chester, and because the 
penalty for missing a lesson in catechism was a severe 
whipping. When I inquired, through a letter, about 
the severity of the lesson, and the punishment in- 
flicted, I received, in reply, a letter from his reverence 
telling me to mind my own business, and that he 
would not tolerate interference from me. I replied in 
a letter, which was answ^ered with a notice that my 
boy was turned out of the Sunday-school because I 
w^ould not send him to the parish school ; and, later 
on, the priest met me on the street, and in the most 
overbearing way threatened that he would deny the 
child the sacraments of the Church. ISTine tenths of 
the j)arents sending their children to the parish school 
do so rather from a sense of fear than an under- 
standing that it is good for them to do so. Many of 
them have told me of their troubles, and of the bad 
discipline in the school, and of the poor progress their 
children make. There is a great deal of smothered 
dissatisfaction. 

The Boston School Trouble. 
On the 8th of May, 1888, Eev. Theodore A. Metcalf, 
rector of the Gate of Heaven Roman Catholic Church, 
South Boston, complained to the Boston School Board 



116 Romanism vs. The Public School System. 

tliat Charles B, Travis, a teacher in the English High 
School, in the course of his instruction in history, had 
made offensive statements in regard to the Homan 
Catholic doctrine and practice of indulgences, and 
asked for a remed}^ After investigation, the com- 
mittee concluded that the complaint of the Roman 
Catholic priest was, in their judgment, well founded, 
and that the book, Swintori's Outlines of Modern 
History., was also faulty, particularly in a foot-note 
explaining the doctrine and practice of the Romish 
Churcli, in the matter of indulgences. They there- 
fore ordered Mr. Travis to be removed to another 
position in the school, and that Swintoii's History be 
discontinued as a text-book. 

This Roman Catholic interference aroused the citi- 
zens of Boston, and numerous public meetings were 
held during the summer and autumn, in the largest 
halls and churches, with immense audiences. Able 
speakers enlisted in the contest, and it was carried 
into other towns and cities in Eastern Massachusetts. 
Powerful addresses and appeals were made ; and the 
interest in the school question was so great as to over- 
top the excitement incident to the State and national 
elections. 

In Massachusetts women are allowed to be enrolled 
and vote on the election of school boards. Antici- 
pating the annual city election, in December, there 



Eecent Enforcement. 117 

was a large registration of women in September, 
Protestant and Catholic women competing with each 
other, so that of the 23,000* women registered the 
two classes were supposed to be nearly equal in number. 
It is impossible to give a full history of all the 
details of this great contest. Most Protestants claimed 
that the complaint against Mr. Travis was without 
good foundation ; that it was an unwarranted med- 
dling with our public schools, by Roman Catholic 
priests, and a part of their policy to rule and ruin the 
system ; that the people must be aroused to resist the 
encroachments of Rome, etc. The agitation, now 
continued for about six months, has not yet abated 
in interest, and all phases of the Romish question 
have been freely discussed. In the meantime the 
Catholics have made few replies, but steadily pushed 
forward the erection of buildings for parochial schools 
in Boston, Waltham, Watertown, and other cities, and 
several thousand more of pupils were gathered into 
them when the autumn term opened. The election 
in December is awaited with great interest, and both 
parties are actively preparing for the contest. It 
now looks as though the greatest protest known for a 
long period will be made against the interference and 
aggressiveness of Rome in the affairs of our public 
institntions. 

* In no previous year had more than 2,000 women registered. 



118 E.OMANISM VS. The Public Scpiool System. 

Similar movements against Swinton''s History have 
been incepted by Eoman Catholics in Lowell, Mass., 
and Troy, N. Y. 

Mnch interest has also been excited within the past 
few months in Pittsbui'g, Pa., by the performances of 
the Catholic priests, in connection with parochial 
schools. 

A year ago Father McTighe liad himself elected 
principal by the school-directors of the Twenty-sixth 
Ward, a strong Roman Catholic ward, and undertook 
to establish a parochial school under the sujjport of 
the city funds. This was found to be illegal, and 
aroused so much opposition that he was obliged to 
abandon his position in a month. Another experi- 
ment has followed, somewhat different, in the Fourth 
Ward. Rev. Father Sheedy opened a parochial 
school, on the 4th of September, in four rooms which 
he rented from the Ward School P)oard. Each room 
contained fifty pupils in charge of a nun. Professor 
Sullivan and his three lady teachers, who compose the 
public school staff in that ward, have only fifty-one 
pupils nnder their care, the two schools being sepa- 
rated by a narrow hallway. 

The foregoing statement was sent through the 
country by the Associated Press. Inquiry * made in 
Pittsburg upon two points — whether the nnns were 

* By the Editor of The Christian Advocate, New York city, N. Y. 



Recent Enfoecement. 119 

paid from tlie public scliool funds, and whether the 
priest paid rent for the room — brought tlie following 
reply : The nuns are not paid from the public school 
funds, but belong to an unsalaried order of workers, 
supported by the Mother Superior, from contributions 
and endowments. The Roman Catholics pay the 
public school directors a stated sum of money, per 
month, as rent for* the rooms. 

Father Sheedy is represented as one of the most 
aggressive priests in the city, and it is conjectured 
that should his experiment succeed there are at least 
three other wards in the city, with a Catholic majority 
on the school boards, in which the experiment in 
Ward 'No. 4 will be repeated. The w^hole city is 
aroused upon tlie subject. The Protestant pulpits of 
Pittsburg are echoing with sermons on Parocliial vs. 
Puhlic Schools, and the whole country lookg, with in- 
terest to see the result. 



120 RoxMANisM VS. The Public School System. 



SECTION VIII. 

Slntistical Exhibits of the Parochinl Schools 
of Rornanvisni iit the United States, 



THE data we are about to 23resent have been col- 
lated from Sadlie/'^s Catholic Directory., Ordo 
and Almanac. They will show the present magni- 
tude of the movement, and in what sections of the 

country it is largest, 

ROMAN CATHOLIC PAROCHIAL SCHOOLS IN THE UNITED STATES. 



B.iltinuire 

»;iiarU'ston 

UicliiiHind 

Savannah 

tsi. Augustine . . . 

Wlii-elinff 

\VilininL;ton. ... 
NurtU Carolina. . 

Boston 

Burlinjjton 

Hartfoicl 

Mancliester 

Portland 

Providence 

SpriugUeld 

Chicago 

Alton 

Peoria 

Cincinnati 

Cleveland 



Schools. 


Pupils. 


87 


10,000 





600 


■&i 


1,993 


4* 


1,.500* 


\G 


1,2.38 


13 


1,800 


0* 


530* 


3 




153 


23,661 


43 


22.2,50 


17 


3,981 


m 


13,282 


yo 


5,600 


14 


3,671 


17 


9,000 


21 


7,330* 


205 


6.5.114 ! 


113 


40,000 


100 


11,000 


41 


7,050 jl 


253 


58,0.50 


80 


21,7.-7 il 


127 


25,791 1 1 



Columbus 

Covinston 

DeiroU 

Fort Wayne. . 
Grand Rapids 

Louisville 

Viucennes 

Milvi'auliee. . . 

(i reen Bay 

La Crosse 

Marquette 

St. Paul 

N. Minnesota. 

New Orleans . 

Galve.ston 

Little Rock . . . 

Mobile 

Natchez 

Natchitoches . 
San Antonio. . 
Brownsville. . 




Pnpih 



6,(M9 
5,723 

11,470 
8,696 
5,786 
9,100* 

14,000 

108,972 

8,000* 
8,406 
5,000* 
1,400 
11,289* 
2,000* 



332 28,095 

ll,Ono 
1,200* 
1,255 
1,200 
2,107 

300 
1,000* 

500* 

140 I 18,563 



Statistical Exhibits. 

ROMAN CATHOLIC PAROCHIAL SCHOOlS.-ConUnued. 



121 



New York . . 
Albany.. .. 
Brooklyn . . . 

Buffalo 

Newark 

Ogdensburg 
Rochester . . 
Syracuse . . . 
Trenton. . . . 



Oregon 

Helena 

Nesqually 

Vancouver's Isl'ds, 
Idaho 



Philadelphia . 

Erie 

Harrisburff. . . 

Pittsburg 

Scranton 



Schm.Is. 


PupilB. 


146 


41,139 


50 


14,r.00 


97 


27,000 


58 


15,000 


75 


23,404 


15* 


2,878 


27* 


8,000 


14* 


4,590* 


24 


5,800 


506 


142,311 


3 


1,065* 


8 


300* 


19 


155* 


2 


68* 


32 


1,538 


68 


25,000 


58 


5,837 


29 


4,252 


71 


21,000 


18 


4,490* 


244 


60,579 



St. Louis 

Cheyenne 

Concordia. . . . 
Davenport . . . 

Dubuque.. 

Kansas City . . 
Leavenworth. 

Lincoln 

Nashville 

Omaha 



San Francisco. 
Los Ang-eles. .. 
Sacramento . . . 
Utah 



Sante F6 

Denver 

Arizona 

Indian Territory. 



Aggregate. 



4 
34 
54 
40 
50 

2 
16 
25 

322 

13 

15 



42 

13 

21 

6 

8 

48 
2,847 



Pupils. 



20,450 

175 

345* 

3,940 

6,676 

2,600* 

4,000 

100 

2,500 

2,251 



43,087 

8,000 

1,566 
340 



9,906 

2,000* 
4,250 
500* 
165* 

6,915 

567,740 



* These beins omitted in the Year-Booh for 18SS, have been supplied from the 
Year-Books of 1SS6 and 1SS7. 

The enrollment of public school children in the 
nation is about one fifth of the total population. If 
the Catholic children of school age bear the same 
proportion, thej cannot be less than 1,500,000, leav- 
ing 932,260 not yet gathered into their schools. This 
is upon the basis of 7,500,000 Catholics in the United 
States when the Year-Booh for 1888 was made up. 
If the larger estimates of 8,000,000 or 10,000,000 
Catholics are true, then they have only about one 
third of their children in their parochial schools. 



122 KoMANisM VS. The Public School Syst 



EM. 



The revised statistics sliow the following suHiniaries :• 

Pupils. Schools. II Pupils. Schools. 

In 1S60 57.011 GGD In lS?;n.. 427,230 2.288 

In 1870 257,000 1,214 || In 18SS. 567,740 2,b4I 

The sections of the country in which these paro- 
chial schools are most numerons arc as follows: 

States Parocliiiil „ ., 

states. Scliools. ^ "P"^- 

New Eiijiknd 205 65. 114 

New York 407 113,107 

New Jersey 99 29,204 

Pennsylvania 244 00,579 

Maryland 87 16,000 

Ohio 237 52,271 

Indiana 144 22,696 

Illinois 253 58,050 

Total 1,076 417,021 

There are outside of the above thirteen States 1,17L 
schools and 150,723 pupils; fifty-seven per cent, 
of the schools and se v en tj' -three per cent, of the 
pupils are in thirteen States, This shows where the 
contest is likelj'' to come soonest and sharpest. 

For the purpose of conveying to the mind of the 
reader a more distinct idea of the parochial schools, 
the following exhibit is furnished of the number of 
the schools and pupils, and the religious brotherhoods 
and sisterhoods intrusted with the "work of instruction, 
in two important dioceses, Cleveland and Newark, as 
reported in Sadlier's Catholic Almanac for 1881. 

DIOCESE OF CLEVELAND. 

Rdi{)ious Orders in Charge of Parochial Schools. 

BROTHERHOODS. 

Brothers of Mary 9 brothers. II Franciscan Brothers 3 brothers. 



Statistical Exhibits. 



123 



SISTERHOODS. 

Sisters. 

Ursulines 52 

Sisters of Notre Dame 67 

Ladies of the S cred Heart of Mary. 30 

Sisters of the HiimiJity of Mary 231 

Total 12 brothers, 200 sisters. 



Sisters. 

Sisters of St. Joseph 14 

Sisteis of St. Francis (Tiffin) 6 

Sisters of St. Francis (Joliet) 8 



Parochial Schools and Average Attendance of Pupils. 



Cleveland : St. Jolm's Cath'i. 

St. Augustine's 

St. Bridget's 

Holy Family 

Immaculate Conception. . . 

St. Joseph's 

St. Malachi's 

St. Mary's (Annunciation). 

St. Mary's (Assumption)... 

St. Mary's (Holy Eosary).. 

St. Patrick's 

St. Peter's 

St. Procop's 

St. Stephen's 

St. Wenceslas 

Akron : St. Bernard's 

St. Vincent de Paul's 

Ashtabula*. 

Avon 

Bellevue 

Berea : St. Adalbert's 

St. Mary's 

Berwick 

Bethlehem 

Big Springs 

Brier Hill 

Canal Fulton .- 

Canton : St. John Bapiist 

St. Peter's (German) 

Carey 

Chicago Junction 

CoUinwood 

Crawf ordsville 

Crestline 

Custer 

Defiance : St. John the Evan. 

Delphos 

Elyria 

Euclid 

Findlay 

Florence* 

Fostoria 

Fremont : St. Ann's * 

St. Joseph's * 

French Creek 



,0.50 

219 

180 

300 

271 

383 

550 

140 

384 

529 

.558 

385 

2(53 

374 

2So 

1801 

146[ 

lOo! 

30! 

78 

Sij 

95 

75 

54 

25 

100 

127 

130 

255 

25 

35 

31 

45 

113 

40 

112 

270 

110 

40 

66 

50 

60 

100 

220 



Gallon ; St. Joseph's 

St. Patrick's* 

Glandorf .*. 

Grafton 

Harrisburg 

Hubbard 

Kelley's Island 

Kirby. 

Landeck 

Leetonia 

Liberty 

Lima 

Liver'pool 

Louisville. . . 

Mansfield 

Masslllin : St. Jobeph's 

St. Mary's* 

Milan 

Millersville 

Monroeville 

Napoleon 

New Cleveland 

New Riegel 

New Washington 

Niles 

North Ridge 

Norwalk : tit. Mary's 

St. Paul's ' 

St. Peter's 

Ottawa 

Ottoville 

Painesville 

Perrysbui'g 

Peru 

Randolph 

Ravenna 

Reed 

Ridgeville 

Rockport : St. Mary's. 

St. Patrick's 

Rootstown 

St. Patrick's Settlement 

St. Stephen's Settlement,. . . 
Sandusky City: St. Mary's. 

SS. Peter and Paul 



2 


73 


7 


300. 


1 


28 


1 


29 


2 


138 


■1 


.50 


1 


50 


2 


90 


3 


280 


1 


28 


4 


260 


2 


69 


3 


138 



2 ! 140 



92 
357 
37 
39 
102 
90 
100 
120 
160 
107 
30 
80 
162 

m 

55 

210 

146 

75 

76 

55 

89 

26 

39 

36 

43 

12 

48 

32 

395 

250 



* Report of 18T8. 



124 Romanism vs. The Public School System. 

Parochial SchooU and Average Attendance.— Continued. 



Sandusky City : Holy Angels 

Sheffield 

Shelby Settlement 

Sherman * 

Six-Mile Woods 

South Toledo 

Strasburg 

Thompson's 

Tiffin : St. Joseph's 

St. Mary's 

Toledo: St. Francis de Sales's 

Good Shepherd's — 



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1 


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2 


56 


a 


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2 


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2 


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:! 


130 


7 


340 


3 


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5 


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2 


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Toledo: St. Uedwig's 

Immaculate Conception. 

St. Joseph's 

St. Mary's 

St. Patrick's 

St. Peter's 

Upper Sandusky 

Vienna 

Wooster 

Youngstown : 

St. Coluiiiba's 

St. Joseph's 



100 
315 
115 

619 

ma 

240 
115 
05 
103 

600 

80 



RECAPITULATION. 



Churches 

" building 

Chapels 

Stations (without churches) 

Secular priests 137 

Regulars 34- 

Total number of priests 

Seminarians 

Seminary 

Academies for girls' 

Number of girls attending acad- 
emics and select schools, 

Hospitals 

Orphan asylums 

Reformatory for girls 



199 

6 

20 

65 



Homes for the aged poor 

Orphans 

Male religious communities 

Female " '■'' 

Brothers 

Professed sisters, novices, and 
postulants 

Religious having charge of paro- 
chial schools 

Parochial schools 

Parochial schools taught by re- 
ligious 

Average number children attend- 
ing parochial schools. . .about 21. 

Catholic population about 1.50. 



3 

683 

21 
39 

603 

212 

113 

64 

,000 



DIOCESE OF NEWARK. 

Parochial Schools. 





Pupils. 


Taught by 


St. Patrick's Cathedi-al Schools, 


670 
302 
400 
],](X) 
326 
700 
560 
168 
146 
1.56 
410 
460 
217 
425 
191 


5 Brothers of Christian Schools ; 6 Sis- 
ters of Charity. 


St. John's, Newark 

St. Mary's, Newark 


6 Sisters of St. Joseph and lay teacher. 
5 Sisters of St. Benedict and lay teach'r. 




7 Sisters of Charity ; 7 lay teachers. 


St. Aloysius's, Newark 


4 Sisters of Charity. 




10 Sisters of Notre Dame ; 1 lay teacher. 




8 Sisters of Charity. 




2 Sisters of St. Benedict. 


St. Columba's, Newaik 


2 Sisters of Charity. 


St. Augustine's, Newark 


3 Sisters of Christian Charity. 
5 Sisters of Charity. 


St. Pius's, East Newark 


5 Sisters of Charity and 2 lay teachers. 
3 Sisters of Charity. 


St. Mary's, Bergen Point 

Sacred Heart, Bloonifleld 


6 Sisters of St. Joseph. 
3 Sisters of Charity. 



* Eepoit of 18T8. 



Statistical Exhibits. 

ParocMal Schools.— Continued. 



125 





Pupils. 


Taught l)y 


St. Mary's, Bordentown 

St. Paul's, Burlington 


207 

117 

350 

120 

98 

55 

320 

168 

1,110 

188 

190 

125 

110 

195 

138 

65 

639 

150 

830 

1,200 

510 

175 

668 

600 

340 

92 

30 

275 

135 

85 

250 

37 

75 

750 

81 

50 

685 

300 

80 
225 
582 
24-J 
120 

50 
220 

100 
125 

225 
87 
100 
106 
.50 


5 Sisters of Mercy. 

3 Sisters of St. Francis. 

7 Sisters of St. Joseph. 


SS. Peter and Paul's, Camden. . 
St. Joseph's, Carlstadt 


3 Sisters of Notre Dame. 
3 Sisters of St. Benedict. 
1 lay teacher. 


St. Mary's, Elizabetb 


5 Sisters of Charity and lay teacher. 


St. Michael's, Elizabeth . . 

St. Patrick's, Elizabeth 

St. Henry's, Elizabeth 


2 Sisters of Christian Charity. 

8 Sisters of Charity and lay teachers. 

4 Sisters of St. Benedict. 


St. Cecelia's, Englewood 


4 Sisters of Charity. 


St. Rose of Lima, Freehold 

St. Mary's, Gloucester 

St. Joseph's, Guttenberg 

St. Joseph's Chr., High Bridge. 


2 Franciscan Sisters. 

6 Sisters of St. Dominic. 
2 Sisters of St. Francis. 

1 lay teacher. 

7 Sisters of Charity and 2 lay teachers. 




St. Peter's, Jersey City 

St. Mary's, Jersey City ... 

St. Joseph's, Jersey City 

St. Boniface's, Jersey City 

St. Michael's, Jersey City 

St. Bridget's, Jersey City 

St. Paul of the Cross, Jersey City. 


8 Sisters of Charity and 4 lay teachers. 

4 Brothers Christian Schools and 8 Sis- 

ters of Charity. 
8 Sisters of Charity and 1 lay teacher. 

5 Sisters of St. Dominic. 

8 Sisters of Charity and 2 lay teachers. 

6 Sisters of Charity and lay teacher. 
5 Sisters of Charity and lay teacher. 


St. Joseph's, Keyport 

St. John's, Lambertville 


1 lay teacher. 
Lay teachers. 

2 Sisters of Charity and lay teacher. 


St. Rose's, Milburn 


3 Sisters of Notre Dame. 


Our Lady's, Morristown 

St. Mary Magdalen, Millville. . . 

St. Bernard's, Mount Hope 

St. Peter's, New Brunswick — 
St. John the Baptist's, New 


2 Sisters of Charity and lay teacher. 

1 lay teacher. 

3 Sisters of Charity. 

6 Sisters of Charity and 3 lay teachers. 

2 Sisters of Christian Charity. 


St. Ann's, New Hampton 

St. John's, Orange 


1 lay teacher. 

5 Sisters of Charity and 2 lay teachers. 


Our Lady, Orange Valley 

St. Rose of Lima's, Oxford Fur- 
nace 

St. Nicholas's, Passaic 

St. John the Baptist's, Paterson. 


2 Christian Brothers and 4 lay teachers. 

1 lay teacher. 

3 Sisters of Charity. 
8 Sisters of Charity. 
3 Sisters of Charity. 


St. Mary's, Totawa, Paterson. . . 
St. Joseph's Hospital School — 
St. Boniface's, Paterson 

St. Bonaventure's, Paterson 

St. Mary's, Perth Amboy 

St. Paul's, Princeton 


5 Sisters of St. Dominic. 

1 Sister of Charity. 

3 Sisters of St. Dominic and 3 Brothers 
of Mary. 

2 Brothers of Mary. 

3 lay teachers. 

4 Sisters of Mercy. 




2 Sisters of Charity. 


St. James's, Bed Bank. 


Lay teacher. 

2 Sisters of St. Francis. 

1 lay teacher. 


St. Peter's, Riverside 

St. Mary's, Salem 



120 lloMANisM VS. The Public School System. 



Parochial SchnoU.— Continued. 





Pupils. 


Taught by 


Sacred Heart, Sliadyside 

St. Mary's, South Aiiiboy 

Our Lady, South Orange 


152 
40 
130 

ro 

610 

5ir 

1.50 
122 
109 
50 
360 

43 


2 Sisters of St. Francis. 

1 lay teacher. 

2 Sisters of Charity. 


Oui' Lady of Mt. Carmel. Tenafly 
St. John the Baptist's, Trenton. 

St. Mary's, Trenton 


Sister of Charity. 

7 Sisters of Charity and 4 Brothers Holy 

Cross. 
4 Sisters of Charity and lay teacher. 
4 Sisters of St. Francis. 


Our Lady of Lourdes, Trenton.. 

Holy Family, Union Hill 

Holy Family, Watei ford 

Our Lady, West Hoboken 


2 Sisters of St. Francis. 

3 Sisters of St. Francis. 
3 Sisters of Charity. 

5 Sisters of Charity and 4 Cliristian 

Brothers. 
1 lay teacher. 


St. Mary's, Plalnfleld 


Being remodelled. 



A new diocese (Trenton) now takes a part of the foregoing. 

GENERAL STATISTICS OF NEWARK DIOCESE (YEAR-BOOK, 1888). 

No. 1 1 Ni). 

Priests : Regular .55 I , uf^ljchurches 103 

Secular 125 ) ^°"|;Stations visited 15 

Brothers 23 / n^^, Monasteries 3 

Sisters 95t ( "Iconvents 9 

Ecclesiastical Students in seminary 25 1 seminary 1 



Colleges (Boys) 3 

Academies (Young Ladies) 18 

Parochial schools . 73 

Industrial schools and reformatories 3 



Total. 



Orphanages 5 

Hosviitals, cases treated during the year 4 

Asylums 4 

Total 

Catholic population of diocese by recent census, about 



Pupils. 

2^3 

1,420 

23,214 

190 

25,112 

Inmates, 

627 

4,.536 

380 

5,543 
160,000 



DIOCESE OF BOSTON. 



Parochial schools. 
Teachers : 

Sisters 

Lay 

Brothers 



I8S8. 
43 

370 
31 

10 



1S77. Inc 
18 



166 
11 



Statistical ExiniiiTs. 127 

City of Boston. 

1SS8. 1811. Increase. 

Parochial schools 16 11 5 

Teachers : 

Bisters 110 94 

Lay 18 11 

Brothers 

Total teachers. , 134 105 ;?9 

Pupils r,lt)9 5,086 2,083 

CHlLDRE.Nf IN BOSTON. 

1885. 1875. Inere.ase. 

Between 5 and 15 years, inclusive • 75,988 71,195 4,793 

Forei.s;n in first or second degree 50,000 

In parochial schools 1 in 7 

Of the parocliial schools in the dioce::;e of Boston 16 are in Boston and 13 more 
in Salem, Lowell, Lawrence, and Haverhill— 28 in 5 cities, leavin.s 14 in the 
diocese outside of 5 cities. But there are 105 towns and cities in the diocese, 
100 of which have only 14 parochial schools ; they are now being rapidly organ- 
ized in other towns and cities. 

CITY OF NEW YORK. 

Kfi. 1 1 No. 

Parochial schools C5 Colleges (two Jesuit) 4 

Teachers (sisters and brothers). 550 Teachers 1 10 

Pupils 29,149; :PupiIs 996 

Select schools 19^ Homes, asylums, etc., for children 11 

Teachers (sisters and brothere). 116! Teachers 426 

Pupils 1,073 Pupils 2,331 



CITY OF ST. LOUIS. 



No. 

Parochial schools 46j 

Teachers (sisters and brethren) . 251 1 

Pupils 14,.522| 

Select schools 7| 

Teachers (sisters and brethren) . 294 
Pupils 985: 



No. 



Colleges (one Jesuit) 

Teachers 23 

Pupils 699 

Homes, asylums, etc., for children 9 

Teachers. 227 

Pupils 1,045 



The Catholic Citizen, of Milwaukee, gives the fol- 
lowing census of the pnpils in the Catholic schools in 
that city : 

1882— Total Catholic school enrollment 5,180 

1883— " " " " .5,870 

1884— " " " " 6,.520 

188.5— " " " " 7,118 

1886- " " " " 7,797 

1887- " " " " 8,4.57 

1888- " " " " 9,096 



128 Romanism vs. The Public School System. 

It will be noted that the increase per year has varied 
from eight to ten per cent. This increase is in keep- 
ing with the increase in population. During the past 
year five new Catholic schools were opened in the city, 
four of which are located on the south side. The 
present number of Catholic schools in Milwaukee is 24. 

The Higher Educational Institutions 
Of Romanism in the United States are as follows : 

students 
Institutions, of al! grades. 

Jesuit colleges ; 26 5,258 

Other colleges 60 8,749 

Theological seminaries 19 3,645 

Female colleges 19 1,214 

Total 124 18,806 

Of the 86 colleges many are but little more than 
foundations for colleges, in an exceedingly undevel- 
oped condition, and the students comjn-ise those in 
the academic or preparatory course, their plan of col- 
lege studies comprising seven years. The better class 
of their colleges numbers little more than 50, and the 
students in the course for the degree A.B., as near as 
can be ascertained, are 4,647. The non-Roman Cath- 
olic denominational colleges in the United States are 
252, with 21,301 students in the course for A.B. In 
addition are the undenominational colleges, number- 
ing 61, with 6,819 students.* 

* For fuller information see Chridianify in. tlif Uniteil States, by the 
author of this volume. Phillips & Hunt, 805 Broadway, New York city, 
N. Y. Pp. 604-609, 611-613, 726. 



Statistical Exhibits. 129 

But the cniTicLilum of studies in the Catliolic col- 
leges is much inferior to that of most Protestant col- 
leges. (See Part II, Chapter IX,) 

That the reader may see the relative situation, the 
colleges and students of three other denominations 
are given in comparison : 

CuUeges. Students for A.B. 

Roman Catholics 57 4,647 

Methodists (all kinds) 67 4,938 

Fresbyteriaus (all kinds) 46 4,060 

Baptists (all kinds) 45 3,728 

To aid in the work of education, as well as asylums, 
etc., the Pomish Church has already in tliis country 
24 orders of priests, 11 ordei's of brothers, and 77 
orders of sisters — 112 in all. 

Geowth. 
The increase* of the Eoman Catholic Churcli in this 
country is one of the striking religious phenomena of 
this century. Conceding heavy losses in Europe, it 
has been their habit to boast of large gains in the 
United States. Its churches, schools, convents, eccle- 
siastics and adherents have increased many fold, and 
it has become a conspicuous factor in the main cen- 
ters of the population. It exerts a large and, in some 
localities, a controlling influence in politics. Never 
v;as it plotting more deeply and determinedly than 
now, and some persons have grave fears for the safety 
of our free institutions. Let us be wisely active. 

*By immigration ; but smaller relative increase since 1870 than before. 
9 



130 Romanism tw. The Public School System, 





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PART II. 



QUESTIONS INVOLVED IN THE CONTEST. 



PART IL 
Questions Involved in the Contest. 



IK discussing tlie vital questions involved in the 
Catholic school contest, and in the form in which 
the writer apprehends they are likely to be developed 
in the near future, it will be noticed that the subject 
revolves around the following points : 
The Roman Cathohcs claim — 

1. That all education, secular and religious, is tlie 
exclusive function of the Church (the Papal Church), 
to be administered in parochial schools under the sole 
direction and supervision of the Church, and that, in 
a free republic like ours, the Church has a right to 
establish and maintain such schools. 

2. Eoman Catholics contend that they have a right 
to a share of the public school moneys, and demand 
that the funds be divided, and their portion appropriated 
for their schools. 

3. And that, so long as the pubhc schools exist on 
their present basis, no sectarian text-books or instruc- 
tion should be allowed in them. 

Protestants claim — 



134 HoMANisM VS. The Public School System. 

1. That secular instrnctioii is the function of the 
State, and that reKgious instruction belongs to religious 
institutions and the home. We allow the right, to all 
denominations who desire to do so, to establish and 
maintain churcli schools, seminaries, and colleges at 
their own expense ; but we do not consider it either 
wise or equitable, or consistent with true loyalty to the 
republic, for any denomination to maintain schools in 
which supreme allegiance to a foreign pontiff is daily and 
prominently inculcated, or hierarchical dogmas taught. 

2. We also claim that no sectarian, parochial, or 
denominational school is entitled to the moneys raised 
or funded for the public schools ; and that to divide* 
and appropriate a portion of those moneys to sectarian 
scliools would be fatal to the integrity of the public 
school system and the welfare of the republic. 

3. We furthermore protest against the introduction 
into the public schools of sectarian text-books, or books 
showing a sectarian bias, or the impartation of sectarian 
instruction, or the employment, as teachers in the pub- 
lic schools, of members of religious brotherhoods or 
sisterhoods* wearing the costume or any insignia of 
any church ; and also insist that there shall be no sec- 
tarian interference with the administration. 

Such are the leading points of difference between Ro- 
man Catliolics and Protestants on the school question. 

* This has been clone in some instances. 



Duty of the State to Educate. 135 



QUESTION I. 

As to the Might and Duty of the- State to 
Euucate, 

AT this point, so vital to the repubhc, the Eoman 
Cathohc Church sqaarelj joins issue with the 
educational policy of this country. In the preceding- 
pages the attitude of that Church has been seen ; but 
a few more official utterances will help some minds to 
more clearly apprehend the unmistakable policy of 
Rome. 

In his famous Encyclical Letter, before quoted, 
issued December 8, 1864, the pope specified certain 
" errors " wdiicli heofticially condemned, among which 
were the following, bearing directly on this cpiestion : 

The entire direction of public schools in which the 
youth of Christian States are educated may and must 
appertain to the civil power, and belong to it so far 
that no other authority shall be recognized as having 
any right to interfere in the discipline of the schools, 
the arrangement of the studies, etc. 

The most advantageous conditions of civil society 
require that popular schools, opened without distinction 
to all children of the people, and public establishments 
designed to teach j^oung people letters and good disci- 
pline and to impart to them education, should be 



136 TtOMANisM vs. The Public School System. 

freed from all ecclesiastical authority and interference, 
and should be fully subjected to the civil and pohtical 
powers for the teaching of matters and opinions com- 
mon to the times. 

The CatJwlic World '^ said : 

As there is for us Catholics only one Church, there 
is and can be no proper education for us not given by 
or under the direction and control of the Catholic 
Church. 

A writer in the Catholic Woi'ld f said : 

The superintendence and direction of the public 
schools, as well as those wherein the iiiass of the people 
are instructed in the rudiments of human knowledge 
and those wherein secondary and higher instruction are 
given, is the right of the Catholic Church. She alone 
has the right of watching over the moral character of 
those schools, of approving the masters who instruct 
the youth therein, of controlling their teaching, and 
dismissing without appeal to any other authority those 
whose doctrines or manners are contrary to the purity 
of the Clnristian doctrine. 

lu a public address:}: Chancellor Kev. Thomas S. 

Preston, Yicar-General of the Diocese of 'New York, 

said : 

I will state, briefly, the position in which the Cath- 
olics stand in regard to elementary and popular instruc- 
tion. "We have been misunderstood, and often inten- 
tionally so, for our explanations have not been received 
with candor or considered with justice. We only de- 

* April, 1871. i- Septembei-, 1875. ~~ 

X Before the " Young Men's Local Catholic Union " of New York city, 
November, 1876. 



Duty of the State to Educate. 137 

sire to practice our religion, and we defy any man to 
call US in question for our love for our country, , . . 
We cannot approve the divorce of education and re- 
ligion, and, so far as our children are concerned, we 
must teach them, with secular knowledge, the truths of 
revelation and the mysteries of our faith. [Great ap- 
plause.] Because we do this do we prevent our neigh- 
bors from doing it likewise, or from not doing it at all, as 
they please ? Ko. We interfere not with their rights, 
and surely they, in justice and in reason, ought not to 
interfere with ours. [Applause,] So far as the com- 
mon schools are concerned, it is a calumny often re- 
peated, and no doubt to be repeated still, that we are 
opposed to schools for those who want them. It is not 
true. We are not opposed to the common schools for 
our Protestant friends, if they want them, but they 
will not answer for us, for the schools we want are 
those in which our children shall be taught the mys- 
teries of their faith. 

The Catholic Theoet Stated, 
One of the latest and fullest utterances of the 
Roman Catholic Church on this subject was by Eev, 
F. T, McCarthy, S, J,, of Boston. This gentleman's 
statement and vindication will be given at considerable 
length, that the subject may be brought more fully 
and intelligently before our readers. He said : * 

There is no State that has ever received the com- 
mission to educate. God never gave a commission 
to the State to educate. The function of the State 



* December 22, 1887, in the Church of our Lady of Perpetual Help, 
Boston Highlands. The extracts are from the Boston HeralcL December 
23, 18S7. 



7 38 Romanism vs. The Public School System. 

with regard to education is simply tliis — to protect 
the citizen in natural and acquired rights, and to fur- 
ther and to promote the temporal welfare of the 
citizen. 

A word now with regard to the origin of civil so- 
ciety. This will throw more light upon the subject. 
In the beginning, when there was but one family — 
Adam and Eve and the children immediately born to 
them — that was all the civil society that existed. 
Adam was the head. By the law of nature he 
was the head. By divine ordinance he was the head. 
In the family his will was law, so long as that will 
was not in opposition to the will of God. But they 
begat more and more children, and their children 
married, and they multiplied, and they covered the 
earth. Now, it was discovered that there was need 
of some public authority, some one chosen to admin- 
ister the government. There were felt certain wants. 
Those wants could be best supplied by association, 
and accordingly they entered into association. 
The individual surrendered a certain amount of his 
individual right, in exchange for certain protection 
that he received from the government of civil so- 
ciety. And this is the origin of civil society. Civil 
society is created by individual men, and the cession 
of the rights of individual men was only in as far as 
the cession of those rights was for the common weal. 
Hence we hear people talking now about the Com- 
monwealth of Massachusetts — common weal ; com- 
mon welfai-e. That is what it means, the common 
welfare, and the common welfare is best secured by 
the yielding up by the individual of certain rights. 
But the Government is not to take rights, to usurp 
those tliat the individual has never given up, and 
the individual has certain inalienable rights that he 
cannot give up. And one of the rights that the in- 



DuTv OF THE State to Educate. 139 

dividual and the parent cannot surrender, is tlie riglit 
to educate the cliiidren that are born. 

How, then, does the State come to possess this 
right ? Does it belong to the protective function of 
the State ? But it is supposed that the parent, in 
educating, is in his right ; therefore there is no 
question of the State protecting his right. Does it 
belong to that function which is promotive of tlie 
welfare of the individual and of the family ? 'No. 
It is not to the interest of the individual qv of the 
family to have the State as the educator. Let us 
suppose that the State is atheistical. Let us suppose 
that the State is hostile to religion. Let us suppose — 
and the fact exists in a great many places — that the 
State is hostile to the Catholic Church and to those 
who profess Catholic doctrine and submission to 
Catholic authority, I have already said that any 
body that undertakes to teach teaches by the choice 
of the parent, and according to the mind and accord- 
ing to the conscientious convictions of the parents; 
but how is a State that is atheistical, how is a State 
that is opposed to Catholicity to teach Catholic chil- 
dren, to till the place of Catholic parents with regard 
to such children, to bring them up as the parent 
would have them brought up, and as the parent is 
bound in conscience to have them brought uj) ? How 
can the State do that? The State cannot do it. But 
the State has not the right to do it, and when the 
State steps in and assumes the role of the school 
teacher then there is the invasion of the individual 
right, the invasion of the domestic right, the invasion 
of the rights of the Church, and the invasion of divine 
rights. But is there no circumstance under which 
the State is allowed to teach ? No. Tliere may be 
circumstances when the State may look after the 
education of children that are neglected, evidently, by 



140 EoMANisM VS. The Public School System. 

tliose who h'ave the lawful right to teach them. Or- 
phans, for example, foundlings, paupers — tliej are to 
be_ taught. By the State? No. If the Church or if 
private charity does not attend to it the State must 
do it ; but the State does not become the teacher. 
The State is simply to see that that child, thus aban- 
doned, has the education tliat it has a right to. But 
that does not make the State the school-teacher. 

The State Theory Yindicated. 

Here is a full statement and defense of the theory 
of the Koman Catholic Church in regard to education. 
A close observer will detect the fallacies in Father 
McCarthy's reasoning. He says that " God never 
gave a commission to the State to educate." After 
referring to the first family, with Adam as its head, 
he says, where families multiplied there was some 
need of public authority, some one chosen to admin- 
ister government. There were "certain felt wants, 
which could be best supplied by association, and ac- 
cordingly tliey entered into association. The indi- 
vidual surrendered a certain amount of his indi- 
vidual right, in exchange for certain protection he 
received from the government of civil society. 
This is the origin of civil society." Hence the 
term " Commonwealth, Common Weal, Common 
Welfare." 

Father McCarthy thus far states very well the logi- 
cal basis of free republics. This is the basis on 



Duty of the State to Educate. 141 

whicli the Commonwealtli of Massachusetts was 
organized. The " Bill of Rights " says : 

The body politic is formed by a voluntary asso- 
ciation of individuals ; it is a social compact, by 
which the whole people covenants with each citizen, 
and each citizen with the whole people, that all shall 
be governed by certain laws for the common good. 

"When the individual citizens of Massachusetts 
"associated" themselves for the purpose of forming 
" civil society " or the Commonwealth, by " surren- 
dering " " a certain amount of individual rights," etc., 
and defined and fixed the limits of that surrender, in 
the Constitution of the State, and adopted the Con- 
stitution by the 'votes of the individual citizens, to 
w^hom it was submitted, they specified the education 
of the young according to the system then in use, 
particularly mentioning * " public schools and gram- 
mar schools in the towns " — a clear recognition of 
our public school system. They assigned as the 
reason, that " wisdom and knowledge, as well as vir- 
tue, difiased generally among the body of the people, 
being necessary for the preservation of their rights 
and liberties ; and as these depend on spreading the 
opportunities and advantages of education," etc. 

Something similar is found in the history of all the 
United States. Tlie people have relinquished the 

* See Constitution of Massachusetts, chapter v, section ii. 



142 Romanism vs. The Public School System. 

right and duty of secular education to the States. 
The States hold it as committed to them by the people 
— a fundamental principle in our republic. Hence, 
however Father McCarthy's theory may apply to 
monarchical governments, and even republics differ- 
ently constituted, it does not apply to this republic, 
for the parents, as citizens, at the outset, relinquished 
the right and duty of secular education to the State. 

Does Father McCarthy reply that the people, 
under God, have no right to thus relinquish the work 
of education to the State ? Does he state this as an 
assumption ? Where is the authority which condemns 
the relinquishment ? If scriptural, where is the 
text to be found ? If his answer is that the Roman 
Catholic Church holds to that doctrine, that may 
satisfy him, but non-Catholics ask for some other 
proof. 

But, says Father McCarthy, suppose the State is 
"atheistical" or "hostile to religion," "would it be 
for the interest of the individual or the family to 
have the State as the educator ? " That is a suppo- 
sition which does not apply in this i*epublic, and 
must, therefore, be ruled out of this argument. 

But again he says, " Let us suppose — and the fact 
exists in a great many places — that the State is hos- 
tile to the Catholic Churcli, and to those who profess 
Catholic doctrine and submission to Catholic author- 



Duty of the State to Educate. 143 

ity." We answer, that is not the case in this re- 
public or in any individual State of this republic. 
Our national Constitution forbids any " law respect' 
ing an establishment of religion or prohibiting the 
free exercise thereof." The Constitution of Massa- 
chusetts says : 

ISTo subject shall be hurt, molested, or restrained 
in his person, liberty, or estate, for worsliiping God 
in the manner and season most agreeable to the dic- 
tates of his own conscience, or for his religious pro- 
fession or sentiments, provided he does not disturb 
the public peace or obstruct others in their religious 
worship. 

Similar provisions are in the Constitutions of all 
the States. 

The Catholic Assumption. 

But the point underlying the whole is the Roman 
Catholic assumption that religion and secular educa- 
tion must be taught together ; should never be sepa- 
rated. But may not ihe parents, the citizens, in a 
free republic, where there exist diverse forms of 
religion, which complicate and make impossible the 
teaching of religion in the public schools, agree to re- 
linquish to the State the right and duty of teaching 
secular education, and reserve to themselves and to 
the Churches the work of imparting religious in- 
struction ? May they not do this as a wise arrange- 
ment, in the interest of harmony ? This is what we 



144 Romanism vs. The Public School System. 

understand has been done, to afford our Roman Cath- 
olic fellow citizens, and others, the privileges of our 
school system. 

But the hierarchy steps in — not the mass of the 
Roman Catholic laity — and says "No; the exclusive 
function of all education, secular and religious, is in 
my hands — there must be no separation." This is a 
part of the absolutism of the papal Church. She 
claims absolute supremacy in all things : in education, 
in legislation, in government ; that the State and the 
Church should be united ; that the Church should 
control the State ; that all legislation should be sub- 
ject to her dictation. This is the logical basis of the 
papacy, and she carries out the lines of her policy 
wherever she can, and varies from it only where she 
cannot help herself. Her demand wholly to control 
education, secular and religious, is a part of her abso- 
lutism, the " thin edge of the wedge " which the 
Church of Rome is driving into our republican in- 
stitutions for the purpose of splitting the republic. 
This, at least, is the logical trend of her move- 
ment. 

This imperious hierarchy comes into our republic, 
knowing what it is, its government and usages, and 
asserts unblushingly these demands of an absolutism 
engendered amid the darkness and mold of the 
Middle Ages, demanding that which must ruin our 



Duty of the State to Educate. 145 

most valued institutions. Then, if not gratiiied, they 
twit us of the falsity of our boasted liberty, as though 
freedom were unbounded license. Said one prominent 
papal ecclesiastic in New York city : 

'Now, in this country, that boasts its freedom, 
shall a man rise and tell me, " All this is very well, 
but you shall support the common schools, no matter 
whether you like them or not ; and if you don't wish 
to send your chikh-en to them, we are in the majority 
and you shall pay anyway?" Is this in accordance 
with righteousness and justice ? Is this a free country, 
or is it not ? 

Strange are the fallacies resorted to to overturn our 
institutions. Papists fail to appreciate the genius of 
a free country. They live in the atmosphere of ec- 
clesiastical absolutism. Absolutism is the warp and 
woof of the system in which they have been reared. 
They overlook entirely that it is the prime duty of a 
popular government to perpetuate itself by adopting 
measures promotive of the greatest freedom and the 
highest good of all. To accomplish this, restraints 
and requirements must be imposed upon its inhabi- 
tants. The " free country " the Romanists talk about 
does not recognize such necessities. The imposition 
of taxes, laws for restraining the vicious, and laws re- 
quiring men to do what they do not like to do, are, in 
their estimation, incompatible with the gloriously 

" free country " upon whicli they discourse. The 
10 



IttG Romanism vs. The Public School System. 

logical result of such freedoui is anarchy. The 
American people are not anarchists. 

'We cannot too distinctly emphasize the principle 
that self-preservation is the primal law of govern- 
ments as well as of nature. What does history show 
to have been the bane of past republics, and the cause 
of tlieir overthrow, but ignorance ? Of necessity the 
State must devote primary attention to elementary 
education, compelling its children to have such in- 
struction as will prevent their becoming instruments 
of danger. To accomplish this, scliools must be sup- 
ported at necessary expense, and in the least conflict 
with the rights and ideas of the parents. Said 

IloN. Theodore Roosevelt : 

There is but one point in reference to which any 
feelings of alarm are in the smallest degree justifiable — 
this is the public school system. We could suffer no 
national calamity more far-reaching in its effects than 
would be implied in the abandonment of our system 
of non-sectarian common schools ; and it is a very un- 
fortunate thing for any man, or body of men, to be 
identified with opposition thereto. But it must be 
borne in mind that hostility to the public schools is 
not really a question of sects at all ; it is merely an 
illustration of the survival or importation here of the 
utterly un-American and thoroughly Old-World idea 
of the subordination of the layman to the priest. Not 
a few Protestant clergymen oppose our public scliools 
on the one hand, and an ever-increasing nun)l)er of 
Catholic laymen support them on the other. At my 



Duty of the State to Educate. 147 

own home on Long Island, for instance, the chief op- 
ponent of the pubhc schools is not the Catholic priest, 
but the Episcopalian clergyman ; and he re-enforces 
his slender stock of tritely foolish arguments by lib- 
eral quotations from the work of a Presbyterian theo- 
logian. 

The fight is not one between creeds ; it is an issue 
between intelligent American laymen of every faith, 
on the one hand, and ambitious, foolish, or misguided 
supporters of a worn-out system of clerical government 
on the other — these supporters including Episcopa- 
lians and Presbyterians as well as Catholics. Our pub- 
lic school system is here to stay ; it cannot be over- 
turned ; wherever hurt, even, it is only at the much 
greater cost of the person hurting it. The boy brought 
up in the parochial school is not only less qualified to 
be a good American citizen, but he is also at a distinct 
disadvantage in the race of life, compared to the boy 
brought up in the j^ublic schools. 

The theory that the entire work of education is the 
exclusive function of the Church is a sequence of 
the old mediaeval papal dogma that the Church is the 
prime, supreme, and all-embracing source of authority 
— that the ofiices of the State are subordinate to and 
dependent upon the supreme will of the Church, and 
that all functions, religious, civil, and social, must be 
administered under her direction and dictation. It 
does not require great logical insight to see that such 
a theory cannot be worked in the American republic. 
For the proper discharge of the functions of Ameri- 
can citizenship there must be an American education. 



148 Romanism vs. The Public School System. 

A Plain Necessity. 

It is a plain necessity tliat in a republic every boy 
should be educated to understand something of the 
pohty of the Government, its structure and aims, in- 
stead of being educated to ideas and methods of abso- 
lutism, as in the parochial schools of Romanism. He 
should know something of business relations and trade ; 
something in relation to criminal enterprises and 
moral enterprises, and trained- to use his knowledge 
honestly for the good of his country. It is easy to 
show that where the education of the child is left 
wholly to the parent and to the Roman Catholic 
Church, as in Italy, Spain, etc., large masses grow up 
uneducated. In the hands of such people free insti- 
tutions cannot safely rest. They cannot intelligently 
exercise the franchise. On that account the free State 
is in duty bound to educate its youth. To educate a 
large body of children outside of the institutions which 
educate the masses, as, for instance, in the Catholic 
parochial schools, is to build up classes and castes in 
our midst. 

Confessedly it is the function of the State to corre- 
late human forces, all the varied elements of society, 
so far as they need to be adjusted. There are neces- 
sities of the adult population for which the State must 
care, not merely as charities, but as acts of justice. 



Duty of the State fo Educate. 149 

Many are the equalizing tasks of civil government. 
Certain obligations must be made to rest mutually 
upon the rich and the poor — upon nobles apd peas- 
ants, upon vi^illing and reluctant parents. The State is 
the aggregate, unified personality, in a representative 
way, particularly in a republic, correlating and admin- 
istering whatever might otherwise remain unorgan- 
ized and become disintegrating and ruinous.. The 
children of the State, brought into existence without 
ability or wisdom to care for themselves, with parents 
often unfitted to wisely direct their education, and 
often utterly indifferent to it, must be conserved and 
provided for by the civil power. In a republic, re- 
quiring intelligence in order to the performance of 
the duties of citizenship, it is an imperative necessity 
that the State should provide for the education of the 
whole body. It must not be left to chance. 



150 Romanism vs. The Public School System. 



QUESTION II. 

As to Heligious Instruction in the PuJdic 
Schools, 

IN the early period of the New England colonies, 
when the Church and State were united and there 
was only one * denomination, the Catechism was gen- 
erally taught in the public schools ; not every day, 
but more or less every week, and often by the parish 
minister. The appointment of teachers very gener- 
ally depended upon the approval of the local minister. 
In those days the first officers of the Ancient and 
Honorable Artillery Company were not appointed 
until they had passed a satisfactory examination in the 
doctrines of justification by faith, the office-M'ork of 
the Holy Ghost, etc. But that time has passed away. 
No one can believe more sincerely and strongly 
than the writer of this volume that a complete edu- 
cation must comprise religious instruction and train- 
ing ; that the religions faculty must be cultivated ; 
and that instruction in religious truth is an abso- 
lute necessity. But this is not the work of the public 

* There were very few churches of other denominations tlian the Con- 
gregational down to the Kcohition. 



Religious Instruction. 151 

school system. Teachers are not selected with refer- 
ence to an J particular kind of Christian faith. The 
course of study is secular. The home and the 
Church are the places for distinctively religious in- 
struction. 

The course of the Koman Catholic Church, in the 
early part of this school contest, impresses us as having 
been false and insincere, or, at least, the course of 
many of those who, in her own name, championed her 
cause. The objective point in many cases, and for a 
considerable time, was that the public schools were 
" sectarian," because of the use of the Bible in tliem. 
After the school boards had yielded, in many places, 
and withdrawn the Bible, or closely circumscribed 
it, then the Romanists declared they were not satis- 
fied. The Tablet said : " This action does not 
meet, nor in any degree lessen, onr objection 
to the public school system." The Catholic World 
said, "• Exclude your Protestant Bible and all di- 
rect and indirect religious instruction from your 
public schools, and you will not render them a whit 
less objectionable than thej^ now are ; for we object 
not less to purely secular schools than we do to secta- 
rian schools." Then came the cry that our schools were 
" godless," and the plea, " We hold education to be 
the function of the Church, and not the State," which 
has become the point since emphasized. 



152 Romanism vs. The Public School System. 

What a Komanist said : 

A candid Romanist, in a letter to a ISTew York sec- 
ular paper, gave these reasons for protesting against 
reading the Bible in the public schools : 

The Bible is the chief and sole source of Protestant 
beliefs ; it is the potent weapon of the Protestant 
power. The most powerful engine of Protestantism 
is the Bible. The Bible, the whole Bible, and nothing 
but the Bible is the slogan and w^atchword of the 
Protestant chieftains. In this Bible is the foundation, 
the superstructure, the inside and outside, the length, 
width, height, and depth of the Protestant system. 
Now you have put this tremendous instrumentality, 
this chiefest thing in your religious system, into the 
public schools. By so doing you have Protestantized 
tliem ; you have put them in specific opposition to 
Catholic principles. 

When, early in July, 1888, Rev. Dr. McGlynn was 
interviewed by a correspondent of the Christian 
Union, and the fact was referred to that the chief ob- 
jection recently heard from Catholic priests against 
the public schools was not that they taught the Prot- 
estant religion, but that they taught no religion at 
all, Dr. McGlynn said: 

Yes, that is the point which they are urging now, 
but this is merely to keep in accord with the demand 
that all the children must have a religious education. 
The earlier Councils never objected to any thing in 
the public school system, except the giving of in- 
struction antagonistic to their religion, and the con- 



Religious Instruction. 153 

ducting of religious exercises and the using of forms 
of prayer unfamiliar to Catholic children, if not for- 
bidden them. 

The object of the Roman Catholic crusade has been, 
first, to bring the public schools iuto contempt and 
suspicion, as irreligious and ungodlj, and then to 
build up Roman Catholic schools on their ruins. 
They have complained that they were taxed to sup- 
port " sectarian" schools. JSTow they want our school 
money to support their sectarian schools. When in- 
terviewed on this question, in 1875, Rev. Bishop 
McQuaid, of Rochester, said : 

Archbishop Hughes did agree to some compromise 
on the exclusion of the Bible, but long before his 
death he saw the error of such a step. I was brought 
up very religiously, and remember being on my 
knees ten minutes each day while the New Testa- 
ment was read to us. I do not want the Bible ex- 
cluded from schools not frequented by Catholics ; in 
fact, I think the teaching of any religion is better than 
none at all. No man could be more surprised than I 
was, when the Board of Education of Rochester voted 
the Bible out of their city schools. 

In 1858 Archbishop Hughes, in a public lecture in 
New York city, made extraordinary allegations against 
the public school system, as not only " godless," but 
a powerful promoter of crime, because religious in- 
struction was not imparted in connection with secular 
knowledge and training. He said : 



154 KoMANisM VS. The Public School System. 

The public scliools of New York, under the pretense 
of bestowinii:,- the blessings and benelits of education 
upon the cliildren of the metropolis, in fact connnu- 
nicate to them the rudiments of knowledge, accompa- 
nied with just so much intellectual skill and sagacity 
as to enable them to prey with more success and 
greater impunity upon the community; to become 
more finished and accomplished scoundrels, more in- 
genious forgers and counterfeiters, more polished 
murderers and assassins. 

The public school system is a disgrace to the 
civilization of the nineteenth century ; and I hope to 
live to see the day when the citizens of New York 
will look back upon it with shame and horror that 
such a gross and miserable delusion could ever 
have been suffered to take possession of the public 
mind. 

The teacher in the utmost exercise of his authority 
can only appeal to the intellectual faculties of his 
pu])ils; and if those faculties, sharpened by incessant 
and skillful use, choose to look upon dishonesty, fraud, 
or crime as innocent and commendable, the case is 
taken at once beyond the jurisdiction of the teacher, 
who is restrained, by the positive enactment of law, 
from appealing to any higher standard of religion or 
morality than the intellect alone can compass. The 
legitimate consequences of this state of things, thus 
induced, are frightfully apparent in the alarming 
increase of vice and crime which now stares us in the 
face ; the burglars, the robbers, the incendiaries, the 
murderers, assassins, garroters, and rioters, who infest 
our streets and alleys, rendering property and per- 
son alike insecure, and threatening to deluge our 
streets with blood, and convert our boasted civiliza- 
tion into the most fearful anarchy, are but the ma- 



Religious Instkuction. 155 

tured graduates of the public schools, the repre- 
sentatives of its morality, the finished specimens of 
its powers. 

A most astounding indictment ! Bishop Hughes 
was capable of making bolder and balder statements 
than any other papal ecclesiastic, and those just 
quoted are a grave affront to American citizens. It 
requires so little acutcness to answer his allegations 
that it is hardly worth while to dwell upon them ; yet 
we cannot l(3t the bishop's statements pass unnoticed. 
More frank was the pastoral letter of the Second 
Plenary Council at Baltimore, in 1866, addressed to 
the Roman Catholic clergy and laity of this country: 

It is a melancholy fact, and a very humiliating 
avowal for us to make, that a very large proportion 
of the idle and vicious youth of our principal cities 
are the' children of Catholic parents. 

Cardinal Antonelli is quoted as saying : '"' The cate- 
chism alone is essential for the education of the 
peopled 

The process pursued in the Catholic schools dwarfs 
the intellect of the pupils, fitting them for the coarser 
occupations of life. Many Catholic parents have 
seen this, and removed their children from the 
Church schools. When threatened by the priests, they 
have answered, " My children have been in your 
schools three years, and have learned little besides the 



156 EoMANiSM VS. The Public School System. 

catechism ; I prefer to send tlietn to the public 
schools, where they will learn how to get a living in 
this world, since they must spend their lives here." 

Dexter A. Hawkins, Esq., * has demonstrated 
that so far does the training in the priests' schools 
fall short of fitting pupils to earn an honest living, 
that the Irish, who have largely attended these 
schools in New York city, in a term of years fur- 
nished more than three times as many paupers and 
criminals, according to their number, as the Ameri- 
cans, who, as a body, attend the public schools. In 
the city of New York, from 1871 to 1675, inclusive, 
the Department of Charities and Corrections cared 
for the following paupers : 

Ratio. 

Americans 63,178 1.00 

Irisli 98,787 3.50 

Gorninns 24,273 -1.33 

All others 17,5G3 1.50 

The Roman Catholic parochial school sends forth 
its pupils with three and a half times the chances of 
becoming paupers which they would have if they had 
attended the public schools. 

Mr. Hawkins continues : 

But, says the Komish priest, in answer to the re- 
monstrance of the parent, " If the catechism and the 
dogmas and practices of the Church taught in the 

* See pamphlet, The Roman Cathnlic Church iv. New York City and 
Public Land and Public Money. By Dexter A. Hawkins, 1887, pp. 12, 13 



Religious Instkdction. 15Y 

parochial scliool don't enable the children to earn 
their livino; as well as does the course of instruction 
in the public schools, they at least correct their morals, 
and so make them better members of society." 

This is a great mistake, for the facts show just the 
opposite. 

In this city, in fifteen years and four months, end- 
ing December 31, 1875, the record of arrests gives 
the following: 

Number of Irish arrested 571,497 

Number of Americans arrested 387,154 

Number of Germans arrested 1 19,659 

Number from all other races arrested 92,934 

And the names of those arrested show that a large 
percentage of those classed as Americans in the above 
table are of Irish parentage, and hence, to a large ex- 
tent, attended the parochial schools. But taking the 
table just as it stands, and reducing the figures to a 
comparative ratio, based on the number of each race in 
this city, as fixed by the last United States census, and 
adopting the American as the unit, gives the following : 

Americans 1.00 I Germans 1.07 

Irish 3.28 | All other races 1.27 

In other words, a child trained in the parochial 
schools of the Roman Catholic Church is more than 
three and a quarter times as likely to get i7itojail as 
the child trained in the free puMic school. 

The above tables are the outcome of so large a 
generalization, running through so many years, that 
they are safe and sure indications of the tendency of 
the two systems. 

Parents desire the welfare of their offspring ; they 
see plainly the difference between the parochial school 
boy and the public school boy ; hence it requires the 
constant application of the spiritual, and often of the 



158 Romanism vs. The Public School System. 

corporeal lash of the priest, to compel them to with- 
draw their children from the feast of knowledge 
offered free at the public schools, and to send them 
to meager and mediaeval diet of daily catechism doled 
out in the parochial schools. 

Pauperism and crime are the two most troublesome 
evils tliat infest and afflict society. This Church has 
raised mendicity from a vice to the dignity of a vir- 
tue ; and its more ignorant followers believe that 
tlirough the confessional and penance its priests have 
the power to pronounce absolution of crime; hence 
its failure to repress these two evils. 

Such is the failure of the Poman Catholic system 
of religious education for which the priests plead in 
behalf of their parochial schools. 

What has been the state of morals in those counti'ies 
where all the popular education that existed was in the 
parochial scliools of Pomanism, or where the people, 
if uneducated, have been under her almost exclusive 
care ? AVe give statistics based upon official censuses : * 

Committals for Murder for Each Million of the Population. 

Protestant England 4 to 1,000,000. 

Roman Catholic Bel<>iinn 18 '' " 

Roman Catholic Ireland 19 '" " 

Roman Catliolic Sardinia 20 " " 

Roman Catholic France 31 " " 

Roman Catholic Austi'ia 36 " " 

Roman Catholic Louibardy 45 " " 

Roman Catholic Tnscini}- 56 " " 

Roman Catholic Bavaria 68 " " 

Roman Catholic Sicily 90" " 

Roman Catholic Papal Slates 113 " " 

Roman Catholic Naples 174 " " 

* Collated by Rev. M. lli)l)art Spencer, a. clergyman of the Clmich of 
England. Censuses next preceding 1854. 



Religious Instkuctiox. 159 

Rev. Mr. Seymour, to whom we are indebted for 

the above statistics, says: 

Kame any Protestant country or city in Europe, 
and let its depths of vice and immorality be measured 
and named, and I will name a Roman Catholic coun- 
try or city whose depths of vice and immorality are 
lower still. 

Stockholm was said, a few years ago, to rank the 
lowest, in respect to illegitimacy, of any Protestant 
city in Europe — namely, twenty-nine per cent, of all 
the births. But the following Roman Catholic cities 
outrank this, the worst of all Protestant cities : Paris, 
33 per cent. ; Brussels, 35 per cent. ; Munich, 48 
per cent. ; Yienna, 51 per cent. ; Lai bach, 38 per 
cent. ; Brumi, 42 per cent. ; Lintz, 46 per cent. ; 
Prague, 47 per cent. ; Lemberg, 47 per cent. ; Klagen- 
fort, 56 per cent. ; Gratz, 65 per cent. 

Illegitimate Births for every ],000 Births.* 



Protestant Conntnes. 

Denmark 110 

Kns:land, Scotland, and WaN'S. 67 
Holland (35 per cent. Roman 

Catholic) ... 40 

Prussia, with Saxony, and 

Hanover S.T 

Sweden and Xorwa}- 96 

Average 79 



Roman Catholic Conntries. 

Baden 162 

Bavaria^ 225 

Belgium 72 

France 75 

German Anstiia 181 

Average 143 



A few years ago Roman Catholic Dublin con- 
tained one prostitute for 301 inhabitants, and Lon- 

* l^eu) Englander, January, 1870. 



100 Romanism vs. The Public School System. 

don one to 579. The Roman Catholic chaplain of the 
jail in Liverpool reported 1,812 Protestant women 
committed and 3,083 Roman Catholic women com- 
mitted in the year 1864* 

The following f shows where the criminals belong 
ecclesiastically : 

In the penitentiary at Joliet, 111., July 22, 1888, 
fifty convicts were confirmed by Bishop Spalding, of 
tlie Catholic Church. They had been receiving 
special instruction for a month, so tliat tliey might be 
prepared to receive the rite. Confirmation, it will be 
remembered, is one of the seven sacraments of the 
Catholic Church, and it admits the recipient into full 
relations with the Church. Two years ago, at the 
same prison, one hundred and seventeen convicts were 
contirmed by Archbishop Feehan of Chicago. 

Bishoj) Hughes had passed away before the astound- 
ing defalcations of Bishop Purcell, in Cincinnati, and 
the Augustinian fathers, in Lawrence, had come to puli- 
lic notice, involving the ruin of many households :{: who 
had confided their funds to priestly hands. But why 
pursue this sul^ject any further ? Such are the facts in 
regard to the character of the people Rome has had 
under her training. How do her pretensions of great 
concern for the religious education of the young appear 
in this light ? Can the young be trusted to her influence ? 

* New Engla.ndei\ JiUiUMry, 1870. 
+ An item of cui-rent news in the newspapers. 

X It is stated on good autliority that tlie losers by Archbishop Purcell 
were all persons ef the poorer class, no rich man being involved. 



Religious Instruction. ~ 161 

How TO Supplement the Schools. 

Bare secular instruction, unattended by religion, is 
sometimes declared to engender worldliness, forget- 
fulness of God and moral relations, and to lead to 
agnosticism. Some leading minds have pronounced 
sncli culture one-sided and mischievous. The moral 
sense, it is claimed, should be cultivated while the 
intellectual faculties are trained. Guizot, Portalis and 
Cousin have been quoted in support of this view. 
How to meet this question in non-sectarian schools is 
the problem. Non-sectarian the schools must certainly 
be, in a free republic, composed of such diverse 
religionists and nationalities. 

Surrounded by Sunday-schools, churches, and Chris- 
tian families, it is morally certain that few children 
vdll be left wholly without religious instruction, even 
if there are no religious exercises in the public 
schools. The sentiment is gaining ground that re- 
ligious instruction is the function of the parent and 
the Church, and the extension of city missions and 
mission Sunday-schools, and the multiplication of 
religious agencies of many kinds is bringing the 
masses of children and youth more and more under 
some measure of religious instruction. But the moral 
wastes are still many, large, and alarming. 

Within a few years many have felt that much 
11 



162 Romanism vs. The Public School System. 

more should be done, and tliat something can be done, 
in inculcating morality in the public schools. The 
Presbyterian Synod* of N^ew York four years ago 
adopted a resolution urging the incorporation into 
State and secular education, of moral and religious 
truth founded on the following basal projjositions : 
a j)ersonal God ; individual responsibility to him ; 
immortality; a future judgment; and the Ten Com- 
mandments, as interpreted by the Sermon on the 
Mount. The Synod appointed a committee to inquire 
as to the practicability of securing a union of different 
denominations on such a basis. Rabbi F. de Sola 
Mendez, representing the Orthodox Jews, indorsed 
the plan heartily, with the exception of the last 
proposition, which he thought might be open to 
misapprehension in that form. Rabbi Gottheil, 
representing the radical Jews, took substantially the 
same position. 

The xlrchbisliop of New York was interviewed, 
and responded as follows, through his Yicar-General : 

Archbishopric of New York, ) 

Chancery Office, 2(56 Mulberry' Street, y 

New York, J)ec. 12, 1885. ) 

Rev. Dear Sir : The most reverend apostle 
desires me, in his name, to say, in response to your 
letter, that the Catholic Church has always insisted, 

* The Evatifjelioal Alliance of Boston Ministers lias agitated the question 
of a book on morals for schools. 



Religious Instkuction. 163 

and must always insist, upon the teaching of religion 
Avitli education. For this reason we cannot patronize 
the public schools, and are forced to establish our own 
parochial schools. The question of religion, where 
there are many different denominations, each with its 
own creed, is a difficult one to settle. We could be 
satisfied with nothing less than teaching our whole 
faith. Protestant denominations, if they value their 
own creeds, ought to feel as we do. Denominational 
schools are, to our mind, the only solution of the 
question. This plan should satisfy every one, and 
would save the State a vast outlay of expense. 

The points you propose, while better than nothing, 
would never satisfy us, and we think they ought not 
to satisfy many of the Protestant Churches ; while the 
infidels, who are now very numerous, would certainly 
reject them. 

We believe that the country will yet see the ruin- 
ous eifects of an education from which religion has 
been excluded. 

With sincere respect, on the part of the archbishop 
and myself, Yours very truly, 

T. S. Preston, Y. G. 

Rev. Geo. Payson, Ch., etc. 

It is plain that no compromise is possible with 
Iloman Catholics. Still the question remains. 

Judge Robert C. Pitman,* of Massachusetts, speaks 
in a manner showing close, clear discrimination, 
worthy of much attention. 

Can we teach ethics without religion? Probably. 
I say probably because there is not much experi- 

* Forum, May, 1888. 



IC-i Romanism vs. The Public School System. 

mental proof. We hear more than we see of that 
kind of teaching. But we cannot teach with author- 
ity; we cannot teach with impressiveness, without 
thought of Him who is the Absohite Right. The 
peculiarity of Christianity itself is not in the reve- 
lation of neM^ ethical truth, but in bringing to us that 
new sense of God, and of our relation to him, which 
makes the idea of duty regnant in the heart. Matthew 
Arnold very inadequately defines religion as " moral- 
ity touched with emotion." But, although it is much 
more, it is that ; and without religion morality has 
neither emotion nor motion. It will stay in the text- 
book. 

And so, coming to the heart of the problem, I say 
that I would have religion taught as a part of our 
public education. What religion ? The only religion 
tliat is a part of the common law, the only religion 
that permeates our literature, and the religion that is 
related to all our modern civilization — Christianity. 
But it should be the Christianity of Christ, not that of 
sects ; the Christianity M'liich, in its practical aspects, 
is fitted to be the universal religion of mankind ; 
which appeals, as did the Master, for its test to the 
common judgment of what is right. Can the public 
scliool teach such a common Christianity? It were 
indeed a scandal to our religion, if there were no 
ground upon which its nominal adherents could stand 
together. Can it be that our schools must be left 
pagan because we are sectarian ? Sucli a conclusion is 
repulsive to the common sense of the conmiunity. 
All the tendencies of the age are toward breadth and 
unity. I think there are but very few who call them- 
selves Christians, who would prefer that our schools 
should be godless, rather than that they should confine 
themselves to the Lord's Prayer as their liturgy, the 
two great commandments as the rule of holy living, 



Religious Insteuction. 165 

and the doctrines of the Sermon on tlie Mount as tlie 
inspiration and comfort of the souL 

Kev. Drs. Seelye, of Amherst College, Bartol, of 
Boston, and others, hold similar yiews. In regard to 
this proposition The PUot (R. C.) editorially says : 

As to the Catholics, they would, at least, have no 
new grievance, and many of them would see a 
distinct gain in removing from the public schools the 
reproach of godlessness. But should they still object — 
as assuredly they would — to availing themselves of 
the public schools. Judge Pitman would favor hand- 
ing over "these departments for the instruction of 
their children to teachers of their own faith, under 
such arrangements as should insure an intelligent, 
systematic, and faithful performance of that duty." 
In other words, the writer would have Catholic 
teachers visit the public schools, at fixed times, for the 
special religious and moral instruction of the Catholic 
pupils. This, however, should be not in recognition 
of a right, but merely as a concession, creating no 
claim for compensation, since the State had already 
provided, according to its best judgment, for the 
religious instruction of all, 

. But why this awkward and unsatisfactory com- 
promise — which means, in effect, to set up a State 
religion in the schools at tlie expense of all the tax- 
paj^ers, and discriminate against the Catholic tax- 
payers, because they cannot in conscience accept it — 
when a simple and well-tested solution of the difficulty 
is offered by the denominational system. Still, every 
word that deepens the growing sentiment in favor of 
reHgion in popular education is a distinct gain ; and 
Catholics have no fear but that, once the American 



16G Romanism vs. The Public School System. 

mind is tlioroiiglily convinced on this important 
question, it will lind an equitable settlement for it. 

Judge Pitman's plan, therefore, will not be ac- 
cepted by Roman Catholics nor by the Jews, and it 
remains a delicate matter to introduce any religious 
instruction into the public schools. A common 
method, in Massachusetts and other I^ew England 
States, is for the teacher, at the opening of the school, 
to read a few devotional passages from the Psalms 
and offer the Lord's Prayer, those of the pupils 
joining who choose to do so, and those who prefer 
remaining outside until the close of this brief exercise. 
This plan generally works without friction. 

The provisions of the national and State Con- 
stitutions are such that the matter of religious exer- 
cises in the public schools is restricted within very 
narrow limits, specific instruction being ruled out. 

The Constitution of the United States says : 

Congress shall make no law respecting an estab- 
lishment of religion or j^rohibiting the free exercise 
tliereof. 

Massachusetts says: "No sul)ject shall be hurt, 
molested, or restrained in bis person, liberty, or estate, 
for worshiping God in the manner most agreeable to 
the dictates of his own conscience, or for his religious 
profession or sentiment." 

Its Bill of Rights says also : " All religious sects 
and denominations demeaning themselves peaceably 
and as good citizens of the Commonwealth shall 



Religious Instkuction. 167 

be equally under the protection of the law ; and no 
subordmation of any one sect or denomination to 
another shall ever be established by law." 

A statute, in the same spirit, forbids the intro- 
duction of any text-book "favoring the tenet of any 
particular sect of Christians." These are in harmony 
with the act of the people which, in 1833, finally 
destroyed the power of towns or the State to tax the 
people for the supi3ort of churches. 

An Able Discussion. 

Said Eev. A. H. Quint, D.D.,* after quoting the 
foregoing : 

These provisions declare a perfect equality of 
religious denominations, that no one shall be put in 
power by law, and that no tenet of any sect shall be 
favored. This necessarily rules out of the schools 
religious instruction, if it is consistently carried out. 
A Komanist cannot impose his tenets uj^on a Prot- 
estant child, and a Protestant teacher cannot impose 
his tenets upon a Catholic child. A Baptist teacher 
cannot teach immersion, and a Congregational teacher 
cannot teach endless punishment. Whether we like 
this or not, it is the fact. No "common law" even, 
no theory of some unwritten power in the State, can 
override the constitutional fetters wliich the American 
Revolution produced. No clearer authority is needed 
than that of Judge Story, in his opinion in the great 
Girard will case, where he declares this new limitation, 
and where he says, of the equality stated in the Penn- 
sylvania Bill of Rights (like others), that "the lan- 
guage must have been intended to extend equally to 

* Congregatioiialist, July 26, 1S88. 



1G8 EoMANiSM VS. The Public School System. 

all sects, whether they believe in Christianity or not, 
whether they were Jews or infidels." 

It is not the spirit of American government for 
the State to select and jDay, from public taxes, minis- 
ters of the Gospel to preach even sound doctrine, 
however much it might be for the public good. On 
the same principle it is not foi: the State to employ 
school-teachers at the expense of the taxpayers to 
teach the Gospel of Christ to children ; and any 
religion less than that is not worth fighting over. 

It has been said that the State has inherent right 
and duty to determine what the education of chil- 
dren shall be. There is much truth in this, but it 
needs very careful limitations. Did the Protestant 
world approve when the Catholic authorities in Italy 
(if I remember), seizing from his parents the Jewish 
boy Mortara, educated him in the Pomanist faith ? 
The truth is, the State must insist, for its own exist- 
ence and welfare in a republic, on the instruction of 
children in all needed branches, and for the diffusion 
of general intelligence as against ignorance. This 
grand idea demands the school system ; but let it stop 
when it interferes with religious faiths. 

From tliesc premises Dr. Quint reasons very con- 
clusively that, 

Any satisfactory religious instructicm in public schools 
is absolutely impracticable, and we may as well ac- 
knowledge it. An avowedly secular system is far 
better for religion than a formal sham. We cannot 
teach the distinctive tenets of any Christian denomi- 
nation. Then, without tenets, what is there to teach ? 
Our own Churches cannot consent to the Pomanist 
papal authority as a tenet on one hand, nor to the de- 
nial of Christ's divinity on the other; and neither of 



Religious Insteuction. 1G9 

these will leave the field to us, nor to all the denomi- 
nations combined, who hold the " doctrines commonly 
called evana:;elical." There is no possible common 
ground. Eliminate all except what all hold in com- 
mon — I^omanist, Protestant, indifferent, Jew, free- 
thinker — and the remainder ! Are majorities to rule ? 
There is nothing more dangerous than majorities 
unfettered by constitutions. 

It may be said that we have the Bible read in 
schools. A law of 1855 required it, and a law of 1880 
forbade all " note or comment," and excused from it 
all pupils whose parents objected to it. Plow much 
Bible is that ? One teacher reads of Moses in the 
bulrushes and of David and Goliath ; and another 
reads colorless Psalms. Suppose the law be changed, 
and note and comment be made lawful — whose doc- 
trine is to be taught by the teacher to our children ? 

No. The safest way, the wisest way, is to secular- 
ize the schools. It is simply asserting the American 
principle that no Church or anti-church shall use for 
its own purpose the public schools maintained by the 
taxation of the people. It makes them no more irre- 
ligious than a State blacksmith shop would be. It 
would teach the ordinary branches at the public ex- 
pense and leave religious teaching to parents, where 
(iod himself placed it. God established the family ; 
men established the public school system. 

It must not be understood that secularizing the 
schools excludes teaching and training in the moral 
virtues. These lie at the basis of all beliefs or no 
beliefs. They enter necessarily into the government 
of every school and the daily intercourse of one pupil 
v/ith all other pupils. They cannot by any possibility 
be put out of sight. They are proper subjects of 
direct instruction. The Massachusetts Constitution, 
which prohibits so plainly the tenets of every sect 



170 Romanism vs. The Public School System. 

and denoiniiiation, expressly directs all teachers to 
" inculcate the principles of humanity and general 
benevolence, public and private charity, industry and 
frugality, honesty, and punctuality in their dealings ; 
sincerity, good humor and all social affections and 
generous sentiments among the people." Nor is 
there any doubt that this subject should be empha- 
sized even farther than it now is. 

It is plain that if all classes are to use the public 
school there must be no specitic religious instruction. 
It cannot be imparted consistently with the American 
system of government. If religious instruction is 
given, it will be almost certain to savor of some par- 
ticular sect ; and moneys raised by taxation upon the 
whole people cannot be rightfully used for that pur- 
pose. Religious education must be taught elsewhere 
— in the Church and the home. Neither the State, 
nor the Church, nor the home singly can do the whole 
work, the complete work, of education. 

A writer in the Catholic World,^ himself a Roman 
Catholic teacher, under the caption, " Send the Whole 
Boy to School^'' in asserting that the Church can im- 
part complete education, makes the fatal assumption 
that the Church can annihilate the school, and even 
the home, assuming the prerogatives both of the 
parent and the State. 

* August, 1888. 



A Paeochial School System. 171 



QUESTION III. 

As to a Farochial School System for all 
Parties, 

THIS inquiry is entertained, tentatively, by some 
persons as a possible alternative, hoping it may 
afford a safe and satisfactory solution of a difficult 
question. Nor is it strange that some should thus 
inquire. The Lutherans in this country, it is stated, 
have 150,000 pupils in parochial schools, and 1,621 
teachers, with 500 more in training. These schools 
are in the non-English portion of the Lutheran 
churches, the object being to prepare their children 
for a transition to a new language and new customs. 
The Episcopalians have some parochial schools. 
About 1815 the O. S. Presbyterians undertook to 
form such schools — quite an extensive effort — but the 
plan did not succeed. 

Until quite recently there was no public provision 
for education in England. Private or parochial 
schools were all, but subject to no State authority or 
control. In districts where such schools did not 
exist, and among classes outside of the influence of 
any religious denomination, there was no public pro- 



172 Romanism vs. The Public School System. 

vision for supplementing this deficiency. All ele- 
inentarj education, until the act of 1870, was depend-, 
ent on voluntary enterprise or casual endowment.* 
The first approach to a public system of educa- 
tion was by means of grants in aid of private 
schools administered by a committee of the Privy 
Council. This system was not superseded by the 
act of 1870, but means were taken to insure the 
existence, in every school district, of a " sufficient 
amount of accommodation in public elementary 
schools." t 

Under this parochial system — all the schools tliere 
were, for a time — there grew uj) a lai'ge uneducated 
class, not directly associated with any religious body ; 
and it became necessary to establish what were called 
■'rate schools," supported by taxes, etc., to meet the 
needs of this heretofore neglected class. The Na- 
tional Education League was formed, insisting that 
" all schools aided by local rates should be unsecta- 
rian." So England has been suffering from these 
diverse classes of schools^— the unsectarian schools, 
the Roman Catholic schools, the Church of England 
schools, tlie Wesleyan schools, the Baptist schools, the 
Presbyterian schools, all educating the rising people 
differently, fostering class distinctions, with multiply- 

* Scotland remained wholly under the parochial school system until 
1872. 
t Sec Britannica, article Education. 



A Parochial School System. 173 

ing and widening divergences, and with no broad, 
deep, unifying influences in the schools. 

The English Government has found it necessary to 
adopt a non-sectarian secular system of State educa- 
tion in India. It is to be conducted by government 
institutions, in which British specialists will supervise 
and direct an enlarged system of technical education. 
Moral training will be provided for by a text-book 
based on natural religion. This means that the Gov- 
ernment will endeavor to hold a neutral position be- 
tween Mohammedanism, Buddhism, and Cliristianity 
— the great conflicting religions in her vast Eastern 
empire — and will inculcate morality based on such 
grounds as are common to all these forms of faith. 

Three Prominent Testimonies. 

Almost simultaneously, in the year 1871, three of 
the most prominent men of the time (see the Chris- 
tian World, January, 1872,) proclaimed their views 
from widely different points of observation upon the 
public school question. The flrst was a voice from 
the Vatican, which the so called Ecumenical Council 
had declared infallible, and must be received by loyal 
Catholics as the voice of God. It pleads for sectarian 
or parochial schools. The pope, writing by Cardinal 
Antonelli, his secretary, to the Bishop of Nicaragua, 
printed in the IN'icaragua Gazette, Jan. 1, 1870, says : 



174 KoMANiSM VS. The Public School System. 

We have lately been informed hei-e that an attempt 
has been made to change the order of things hitherto 
existing in that republic, by publishing a programme 
in which are enunciated " freedom of education " and 
of worship. Both these principles are not only con- 
trary to tlie laws of God and of the Church, but are 
in contradiction with the Concordat established be- 
tv/een the holy See and that republic. Although we 
doubt not that your most illustrious and reverend 
lordship will do all in your power against maxims so 
destructive to the Church and to society, still we deem 
it by no means superfluous to stimulate your well- 
known zeal to see that the clergy, and, above all, the 
curates, do their duty, G. Cardinal Antonelli. 

This language needs no explanation. " Freedom 
of education and worship are contrary to the laws of 
God and of the Church ! . . . destructive to the 
Church and to society." Infallibility makes this 
declaration with respect to one American republic. 
Logically it holds equally with regard to all republics. 

Next comes another utterance. It is from France, a 
Roman Catholic country which two hundred years ago 
drove out the Protestant Huguenots with the rack and 
sword. It \vas her most prominent statesman, Gam- 
betta, who spoke in an address, Nov. 15, 1871 (in St. 
Quentin), on the subject of a comprehensive measure of 
general education, as one of the most important means 
for improving the internal situation of France, the most 
pressing and urgent of all reforms. What system does 
he recommend ? He knew all about the Eoman Catli- 



A Paeochial School System. 1Y5 

olic parocliial system. Does he recommend that ? 'No. 
He wants to abolish all " class distinctions." He was 
for " absolutely gratuitous, obligatory, lay instruction." 
He was not only for the separation of Church and. 
State, but for the entire separation of the schools from 
the Churches, He considered that not only a question 
of political, but of social order. He utterly denied 
the force of the objection that partisans of lay in- 
struction wanted to breed up atheists. In his prop- 
osition, he said, there was nothing hostile to religion. 
But he strenuously denied the right and opposed the 
pretension of a dominant party in the Catholic Church 
to impose the innoculation of their peculiar faith or 
profession, as a necessary concomitant of the lay educa- 
tion of which all stood in need. " Let religious educa- 
tion," he said, " whether Catholic, Jewish, or Protest- 
ant, be given in religious temples, according to the 
choice of parents ; but let not the Catholics, Math their 
claims to exclusiveness, have any thing to do with that 
propagation of necessary knowledge which it is the 
State's duty to see imparted to every citizen." 

It is not strange that France, after learning by her 
painful failures, under the old parish school system, and 
witnessing the success of the United States under her 
common school system, should borrow our system of 
education, and hope thereby to build up and sustain her 
republic. 



176 EoMANisM VS. The Public School System. 

JSText we have tlie testimony of the oldest and most 
eminent statesman of Europe, at the time of its utter- 
ance, only five days from the time that Gambettamade 
his gi'eat educational deliverance. I refer to Lord 
John Ivussell. Writing to a member of the House of 
Commons, he commends his speech in favor of the 
" National Educational League," which insisted that 
" all schools aided by local rates should be unsectarian." 
He did not object to the reading of the Bible in an un- 
sectarian way, but decidedly favored it, in the schools. 
He then proceeded to say, " My wish and hope is that 
the rising youth of England may be taught to adopt, 
not the Church of Rome, nor the Church of England, 
but the Church of Christ." 

ISToble words from a statesman of ripe wisdom, full 
of honors and fame. In an atmosphere of freedom, free- 
dom of education and freedom of worship, Rome can- 
not succeed. How different this plan from molding 
the childhood of the race in the Roman Catholic 
machine ! In view of these testimonies, an intelligent 
people will not long hesitate in deciding between the 
parochial and the public school system. 

A Questionable Right. 

It is often said that the Catholics have ii ri(//)t to 
their parochial schools if they want them, for tliis is 
a free country. Of course, under the Constitution, this 



A Parochial School System. 17T 

is true. And yet, on certain ethical and prudential 
grounds, it is not wise policy for the children of a re- 
public, in the plastic period of life, to be separated into 
class schools of a strongly sectarian character, where 
the lesson is taught that the highest civil and religious 
authority is a foreign potentate. The future welfare 
of the country depends ujdou making our diverse pop- 
ulations homogeneous. And the American public 
school is one of the chief factors for producing this re- 
sult. Our government recently issued an order re- 
quiring that no instruction be imparted to the Indians, 
except in the Enghsh language. Why ? Because this 
method of instruction would help to make them 
American citizens more quickly. For this reason 
objection might be made to juvenile schools in the 
French, German, and Scandinavian languages, because 
they would so far postpone and prevent the process of 
making these foreign elements homogeneous, and fit- 
ting them for enlightened harmonious American 
citizenship. So, too, the Homan CathoHc parochial 
schools, calling off a large portion of our young pop- 
ulation into class schools aj^art from the mass of the 
people, and then drilling them under a regimen essen- 
tially un-American and mediaeval ; instilling into their 
minds the theory of church supremacy over the State, 
with supreme reference to the will of a foreign pontiff ; 

teaching them to believe that all persons not Catholics 
12 



178 KoMAxisM vs. The Public School System. 

;ire continually in mortal sin, heretics and scliisniatics, 
^vllom the Roman Catholic Church is in duty bound to 
exterminate ; such instruction stands directly in the 
way of the process of assimilation so necessary, in this 
country of diverse peoples, in order to make the homo- 
geneous citizenship on which the future welfare of the 
country depends. For this reason we do object to the 
parochial school system, though we cannot deny it on 
the ground of abstract right to Roman Catholics, 

To us it would appear to be wise legislation to for- 
bid the gathering of children into private schools of 
any kind. Catholic, Jewish, Protestant, or any other, 
until they shall have reached their fourteenth year. 
If any denominations desire to maintain educational 
institutions for those who have passed that year, tliey 
might safely be allowed to do so. The law we would 
recommend would be entirely unsectarian. It would 
make attendance upon the public schools compulsory 
for all children under fourteen years of age, with no 
exceptions for any private schools. 

Such legislation at first will seem to many radical 
and impossible ; but it is just what Mexico and Chili 
have done, after a long experience with the parochial 
schools of Romanism. In Mexico " parochial schools 
are prohibited, and although the clergy still exercise 
a powerful influence among the common people, whose 
superstitious ignorance has not yet been reached by 



A Parochial School System. 179 

the free scliools and the com23ulsoiy education law, in 
politics they are powerless." "^ In Chili the '• Liberal 
Majority has established non-sectarian schools, and 
passed a compulsory education law, nnder which all 
citizens who send their children to the priests and 
nuns to be taught have to paj- a tax or line to the 
State." t 

In an elaborate address :}; delivered by Eev. Father 
T. J. Conaty, of Worcester, on the occasion of laying 
the corner-stone of a parochial school in Jamaica Plain 
(Boston), July 22, he said, " We are not in favor of 
Romanizing the public school, but we are in favor of 
Romanizing the education of our children." We claim 
that to the extent their education is Romanized, to that 
degree it will unfit them to make good American 
citizens. 

A Catholic Testimony. 

The necessary influence of the public school system 
in fitting the rising youth for American citizenship was 
well stated by a young Roman Catholic to a rej)orter 
of the Boston Herald. % 

I was educated in the public schools of Boston, and 
was always a Ronian Catliolic. I am very free to tell 
you what I think of public as compared with jjarochial 
schools. I was educated in the former, and every step 

*See The Capitah of Spanish America, by W. E. Curtis. Harper 
Brothers. 1888. Page. 4. t Ibid., Page 494. 

X Boston Pilot, July 28, 188S. 
§See Boaton Herald, July 14, 1SS8. 



ISO RoMAxisM 'VS. The Public School System. 

of my schooling but endeared them to me and made 
me a warmer advocate of them. The studies were such 
as to make me tolerant. I became acquainted with 
children of all classes, under all conditions. I became 
tilled with admiration for the institutions of my coun- 
try. To this education I owe all I am or hope to be. 
To this education I attribute the individual scope 
which, as tiine progresses, I iind broadens out into a 
love of fair play for all, and an antagonism toward every 
thing which tends to hedge in or prevent the fullest 
development of whatever in a man tends to further his 
interests, and makes him a good and obedient citizen of 
a free country. This is my opinion of what our pub- 
lic school system tends to do. 

Now what benefit is to be derived from the paro- 
chial school as compared with the public school 'i I 
say that, in one case I grow up acquainted with the poo- 
pie of every degree of caste and of every nationality. 
I see what is good and what is bad in all. I become 
tolerant of faults incidental to the individual, and 
look upon him as a part of the people who have a 
common interest at stake. In the parochial system I 
should have seen onW one side. My acquaintance 
"would be only with those who are like myself, and who 
believe as I do. Say what you may, in a moral sense, 
I should be only disposed to look on those as right, and 
all as wrong who do not believe as I do. From the 
outset I should have been on the defensive and sus- 
picious of others. I should look coldly upon them. I 
should become indifferent to their wants and grow up 
to despise them, simply because I did not know them. 
Much can be said, I will admit, on the side of the duty 
which the parent owes to the child, the child to the 
parent, and the parent to the State ; but I look upon 
this I'epublican form of government simply as a com- 
pact of all the people for a common good. Hence, it 



A Parochial School System. 181 

does not permit the education of the masses free from 
the control of the State. Since its security rests in the 
individual intelhgence of the people, it must know that 
the tendency of education does not undermine the 
very foundation of its institutions. I mean, that an 
anarchist cannot be permitted to open a college free 
from State control, or to teach a doctrine which, if 
followed out, would end in confusion and disrespect 
for the laws. 

The school question is simply, "Can I obtain a 
better education for my children, to tit them to go 
out into the world to light the battles of life, from a 
public or a parochial school ? I say, unhesitatingly, 
judging from my own experience, and from the his- 
tory of the lives of my school-fellows, from the public 
school. That acquaints a child with every kind of 
people, and teaches, indirectly, love and respect for 
the doctrine that all are equal before the law, and 
have a right to individual opinion and the full en- 
joyment of freedom. For a republican form of gov- 
ernment a public system of education must be kept 
up, no matter wdiat other system is permitted. The 
State. must always know the plan of education which 
is taught, and must, for its own safety, be the judge 
of what is right and best calculated to perpetuate its 
institutions and make its people peace-loving and 
loyal. 

There is evidently a wise philosophy in what this 
Roman Catholic says. This is the reason why /we 
cannot favor parochial scliools. 

Other Testimonies. 
A writer in the Popular Science Monthly last July, 
in view of the corruption and the mismanagement 



182 Romanism vs. The Public School System. 

connected with the adiiiinisti";ition of the Scliool Board 
of Kew York city, expressed the opinion that it may 
yet be found better to resort to the voluntary meth- 
ods, by the private or parochial systems. Referring 
to this article, an editorial writer in the Boston 
Herald * said : 

This is flying in the face and eyes of the Ameri- 
can system of education ; the system that lies at the 
basis of our government, the system that seems to be 
bound up with the development of a free people. It 
is certainly a step in socialism for the State to educate 
the youth at the public expense; but it is indispensa- 
ble to the fair and proper working of our institutions, 
and it is one of the first principles of our national life. 
To break up this system and to go back to education 
through private parties, religious or secular, is to turn 
toward the sunset and to forget the conditions on 
which our institutions ai'e to be maintained. The 
editor of \\\q Science Monthly has a bee in his bonnet, 
if he thinks that the education of a great people like 
our own is to go back again into private hands, or if 
he thinks it would be possible to obtain any thing like 
the results which are now reached, by depending upon 
the parents for the payment of the school rates for 
their children. 

Mr. E. C. CarrigaUjf of the Boston Public Scliool 
Board, said : "I believe if a vote of the Irish-Ameri- 
cans of Massachusetts, especially Boston, was taken, 
nine tenths would give the public schools the first 
place. . . . I have never had any sympathy with 

* August 1, 1888. t -Boston Herald, August 6, 1888. 



A Parochial School System. 183 

any other school system than that established by the 
State and maintained by public taxation. In my 
opinion it is neither necessary nor desirable that pri- 
vate schools should he established, especially for chil- 
dren who are mentally and physically able to do the 
work of our public schools. I should be happy if 
the children of .all classes were taught the common 
branches of learning prescribed by law in public 
schools, for these schools are good enough for every 
child in the State, and if they are not, then it is 
clearly our duty to make them so." 

Two Hostile Camps. 

The Roman Catholic theory of parochial scliools 
separates the children into two nationalities, and al- 
most into hostile camps. Several instances of hostile 
demonstrations, by hootings and even blows, by pupils 
of the Roman Catholic schools toward those of the 
public schools, have already occurred, greatly to the 
disturbance and embarrassment of the latter. There 
is no growing up of habits of increasing toleration and 
respect, but rather of suspicion and hatred. What a 
misfortune thus confronts the State ! ISTot merely a 
variance in religious doctrines, but separation in sym- 
pathy, in types of life, in ideas of government, pro- 
ducing a divergence, widening from infanc}' to child- 
hood, and through childhood to manhood. 



184: Romanism vs. The Public School System. 

Do Roman Catholics point to the sectarian schools 
of some Protestant denominations? We reply that 
in those schools these denominations teach no snch 
distinctively sectarian dogmas, with radical hierarchi- 
cal assumptions and supreme allegiance to a foreign 
potentate, etc., etc., as are taught in the parocliial 
schools of the papal Church. 

We cannot therefore look with favor upon the 
adoption of a system of parochial or church schools 
for all denominations as a possible alternative. The 
prime thing sought in the parochial schools of Ro- 
manism is ecclesiastical instruction. Separated from 
State control, the influences which mold the pupils 
are, first and last, sectarian. The Roman Catholic 
Clnirch is ranked above the State and the countiy; 
but it is not the "seeking first the kingdom of God 
and his righteousness," which Christ enjoins upon all. 
It is rather the absolutism, and exclusiveness, and ex- 
treme functions of the Roman hierarchy which are 
distinctively inculcated. These things are to be 
taught by teachers for the most part foreign by birth 
and training, un-American in spirit and ideas, so that 
the Catholic parochial schools are sure to be nn- Amer- 
ican in character. If not purposely unpatriotic, nev- 
ertheless from tlie very fact of the avowed purpose 
as a papal institution, from the character of the 
teachers and the course of instruction, it is ill adapted 



A Parochial School System. 185 

to make intelligent and genuine American citizens. 
Its bias is positively against American institutions. 
Here lies one of the fatal defects of the parochial" 
school. When it is considered that most of the chil- 
dren are of foreign-born parents, who especially need 
the patriotic and molding influences of the typical 
American public school, it is not difficult to see that 
the parochial school antagonizes the public school 
system, and that its phenomenally rapid growth, as an 
institution, is a menacing danger. We make no com- 
plaint against the parochial school on the ground that 
it teaches religion, hut because it teaches the theories 
of a ^politico-ecclesiastical hierarchy directly and ir- 
reconcilably hostile to a republic, and rigidly drills 
those ideas into the minds of its pupils, by long-con- 
tinued reiterations. Its crying defect is that its teach- 
ing is not only un-American but anti-American, and 
will remove every one of its pupils, in their ideals, 
far from a proper mental condition for American 
citizenship, and enliance the already too difficult task 
of making them good citizens of a republic. It is 
Aicrgoij political instruction, in which the pope is the 
sovereign ruler whose dominion is not to be ques- 
tioned. 

To cramp and compress the mind, while young and 
plastic, in the rigid molds prepared in the Middle 
Ages is what Komanism means to do. 



ISO KoMANiSM VS. The Public School System. 



QUESTION IV. 

As to Whethet' the Public School Funds 
can be JJlvlded. 

THIS question takes us into the heart of tlie 
problem. It is proposed by several classes of 
persons. 

1. Some well-meaning but timid people, seeing the 
sharp feeling that exists, and desiring to avoid trou- 
ble, but who have not thought the question through, 
ask if we cannot let the Catholics have what thej 
want, and thus end the matter. 

2. Another class make this inquiry because they 
fear the disastrous effects upon our public school 
system if the school moneys should be divided, and 
they will be relieved, if they can be assured tliat 
there are legal or constitutional guarantees to pre- 
vent it. 

3. Tlie other class are Eoman Catholics, who pro- 
pound the inquiry in a more assertive form, and in 
a spirit which indicates a determination to get the 
money at all hazards. 

The question, tlien, fully stated, is, Can the public 
school moneys be divided, and a portion be given to 



Public School Funds. 18Y 

aid Roman Catholic pai'ocliial schools — that is, can it 
be done consistently with the spirit and letter of our 
national and State constitutions? 

I will not pause to ask what may be done, under 
possible Catholic ascendency, in some localities, in 
defiance of law and constitutional guarantees. 
That would be a condition of anarchy from which 
we hope to be spared. In a time of anarchy there is 
no knowing what M'ill happen. Let us notice briefly 
what are some of the provisions of the constitutions : 

The Constitution of the United States says: 

Congress shall make no law respecting an estab- 
lishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise 
thereof. 

But to appropriate school fund moneys to Catholic 
parochial schools, which make so prominent in their 
course of study the distinctive inculcation of Eoman 
Catholic dogmas, even the hierarchy, as we shall soon 
show, is a plain violation of this article of the Consti- 
tution of the United States. Such an appropriation 
of moneys would be an official act aiding in the es- 
tablishment of religion — that is, the Eoman Catholic 
religion. The letter of the article says : " Congress 
shall make no law respecting the establishment of 
religion." But the siyirit of the article prohibits 
any thing which would help the establishment of 
religion. 



188 Romanism vs. The Public School System. 

The Constitution of Connecticut declares (Art. I, 
Sec. 4) : 

Ko preference shall be given by law to any Chris- 
tian sect or mode of worship. 

But if school moneys are appropriated to distinc- 
tively Roman Catholic schools, teaching the peculiar 
dogmas and ecclesiasticism of Rome, preference is 
thereby given to that Chui-ch. 

In 1855 the Constitution of Massachusetts was so 
amended as that no money can be " appropriated to 
any religious sect for the maintenance, exclusively, of 
its own schools." 

The Constitution of the State of New York 
(Art. I, Sec. 3) forbids "any discrimination or pref- 
erence " for any "religious profession or worship." 
But to aid parochial schools, as they are conducted, 
and as the Third Plenary Council instructs that they 
shall be conducted, as we will soon show, is exercis- 
ing "a discrimination or preference" for a particular 
"religious profession or worship." 

In 1874 Pennsylvania, by the overwhelming majority 
of a popular vote, adopted an amendment to her Consti- 
tution which declares that "no money raised for the sup- 
port of public schools shall be appropriated to or used 
for the support of any sectarian school." Siiid a writer 
recently, citing these sections in the Christian Union : 



Public School Funds. 189 

I venture to suggest that, if the common schools 
of everv State in tlie Union were as iirmly intrenclied 
and protected in the organic law of the respective 
States, the coming battle with the subtle enemies of 
free institutions would be virtually deferred for a 
hundred years to come, by which time the threatened 
crusade would be postponed indefinitely. 

Such- provisions simplify the problem, forestall 
and neutralize the friction of open controversy^, and 
greatly discourage sub 7'osa plotting. In Section VI, 
Part I, other State constitutional provisions are cited, 
showing that in twenty of the States such a division 
and appropriation of public moneys is prohibited. 

The kind of education for which Roman Catholics 
desire a division of the school money by the State 
involves the recognition of a particular religion by 
the State, and a discrimination in its favor whicli 
necessarily carries with it the converse right to dis- 
criminate against it. 

Catholic Books. 

The religious books used in the Catholic schools are 
not merely religious, treating upon practical religious 
matters, pertaining to the character and the common 
life, but they are distinctively doctrinal and politico- 
ecclesiastical, inculcating the fundamental tenets of 
the papal hierarchy — as clearly and distinctively sec- 
tarian and anti-republican as they can well be. For 



190 Romanism vs. The Public School System. 

instance, these among others, and perhaps chiefly, are 
nsed : A. New Treatise on the Duty of a Christian 
Towards God i^ The Doctrinal and Scriptural Cate- 
chism^ or Instruction in the Principal Truths of the 
Christian Religion, f These two books are full of 
tlie peculiar doctrines and practices of tlie Rouiish 
Church. The last is a minute and complete exhibit 
of the dogmas of the papacy. All the exclusiveness 
and absolute political supremacy of Boine is fully 
developed and inculcated. The child is taught that 
there is no salvation out of the papal Church ; that 
there is no hope for what she calls " heretics " and 
" schismatics." Twenty-two pages are devoted to the 
subject of baptism, seven to confirmation, forty-seven 
to the eucharist, thirty to penance ; in all of which 
the book descends to the usual explanations and subtle 
distinctions of the Roman Catholic theologians. 

It is for the maintenance of such instruction in their 
parochial schools that the Roman Catholics ask the 
State to appropriate public school moneys. When 
the State does that, how far shall we be from having 
a union of Church and State — a Church supported 
and built up l)y funds appropriated by the State? 

Bishop McQuaid avowed this strengthening of the 
Church as their object when he said in the l*lenary 
Council, " Without these schools in a few generations 

* By Kev. P. Collot. t A Church Catechism. 



Public School Funds. 191 

our mao:nificent cathedrals and clinrches would remain 
as samples of monumental folly — of the unwisdom of 
a capitalist who consumes his fortnne every year, with- 
out putting it out at interest or allowing it to increase. 
The Church has lost more in the past from the want 
of Catholic schools than from any other cause named 
by me this evening." * 

After all this already ample evidence showing that 
the parochial schools are distinctively identified with the 
Roman Catholic hierarchy, and consequently so pos- 
itively " sectarian " that, under the laws and Constitu- 
tion of the United 'States and of the several States, 
the division or appropriation of public moneys for 
their benefit amounts to a " discrimination or prefer- 
ence'' for a particular "religious profession or wor- 
ship " equivalent to governmental action for " the 
establishment of religion," it may be claimed that 
these schools are only constructively identical with 
the Church in their teachings. 

The Third Plenary Council. 

"We, therefore, now ask attention to still stronger 
and more direct proof, which shows that the Roman 
Catholic schools are officially and organically con- 
nected with and a part of the Roman Catholic Hier- 
achy. "We refer to the official action of the Third 

* Memorial volume of the Third Plenary Council, p. 174. 



192 Romanism vs. The Public School System, 

Plenary Council, in 1884. The authority for the 
statements about to be made is official : " Concillii 
Plenarii Baltvfnorensls III. Acta et Decreta,''^ ap- 
proved by tlie Supreme Pontiff, Leo XIII., on tlie 
10th of September, 1885 ; recognized by the Sacra 
Congregatio de Propaganda Fide on the 21st of the 
same month. Published by John Murphy & Co. 
Baltimore, 1886. 

This Council was held in Baltimore, November 9 
to December 7, 1884, Archbishop Gibbons presiding 
as delegate apostolic. Associated as members of 
tlie Council were 14 archbishops, 56 bishops, 1 vicar- 
apostolic elect, 3 procurators, 1 archabbot, 6 abbots, 
and 1 superior-general. In addition to these the 
Council was attended by 31 superiors of religious 
orders, 11 heads of seminaries and 38 theologians — a 
total of 212 ]icrsons constituting the entire body, not 
including the protonotaries, etc. Cardinal McCloskey 
and six bishops were absent on account of sickness. 
These figures in this connection speak volumes, show- 
ing tlie prime rank and authority of the Council, but 
all subject to the pope, and its acts of no binding effect 
until approved by the pope and liis associates in 
Italy. 

In the Appendix to the Acts and Decrees of this 
Third Council we find the ^^Instructio de ScJioUs P'uh- 
licis ad Episcopos Americae Septentrionalis Foed- 



Public School Funds. 193 

eratae^'' from which we take the following, which 
shows the animus and object of the parochial school 
movement : 

Yery often the Sacred Congregation for Propagat- 
ing the Faith has been informed that the very gravest 
losses are impending over the Catholic youth in the 
United States of North America, from what they 
call there the public schools. This sad information 
caused the aforesaid Sacred Congregation to determine 
to propose to the bishops of that jurisdiction {ditionis) 
not a few questions, which looked, partly, to the causes 
why the faithful allow their children to frequent non- 
Catholic schools ; partly, to the means by which youths 
can be more easily kept from schools of this descrip- 
tion. 

It Comes feom Kome. 

This shows that the head of this opposition to our 
public schools is in Rome, and that foreign interfer- 
ence incepts and pushes the movement. This shows, 
too, that the chief concern is loss of Catholic youth 
from the Catholic Church. While, further on in this 
papal document, there is allusion to liability to cor- 
ruption in morals, yet tlie chief emphasis is laid 
upon " loss on the side of faith," " perversion " from 
the Church. They say, " They (the schools) have 
seemed full of danger, ex se, and thoroughly averse 
to Catholicism." " The children neither learn the 
rudiments of the faith nor are interested in the pre- 
cepts of the Cliurchr They also complain of the 
13 



194 Romanism vs. The Public School System. 

public schools as ^''disjointed from the authority of 
tlie Church^'' with '* tcuchcrs employed from every 
sect indiscriminately." This document closes with a 
menace to " contumacious parents who continue to 
patronize the public schools." 

These are the reasons why that papal body, " The Sa- 
cred Congregation fur Propagating the Faith," pressed 
this subject upon the bishops of the United States. 
Such is the official source and animus of the move- 
ment. It comes from the papal hierarchy in Rome. 

Now we are ready to look at the specific instruc- 
tions of the Plenary Council, as presented in their 
official "Acts and Decrees." Title VI reads, "i>d 
CatJiollca Juventutls Instltutlone'''^ (concerning the 
Catholic institution for youth). This topic is divided 
into two chapters, on the parochial and the higher 
schools respectively. After citing the evils of a ■mere 
secidar education, and such texts as, "No man can 
serve two masters," and " lie that is not for me, is 
against me," they say (No. 19G) : 

Therefore we not only of our parental love exho/t 
C\itholic parents, but we even charge them by all the 
power we jiossess that they procure for their dearly 
beloved offspring, given to them by God, born again 
to Christ in baptism, and destined for heaven, an 
education truly Catholic and Christian ; and that they 
defend their children during the whole period of in- 
fancy and boyhood from the dangers of a emrely sec- 



Public School Funds. 195 

%dar education ', • • - and tliat for that purpose tliey 
send tliem to parochial or other tridy CcUJiolic schools, 
nnless by chance the Ordinary judge that in a partic- 
ular case something else can be permitted. 

The second section of this chapter treats upon " the 
ways and means for promoting parish schools. (Sec- 
tion Ko. 201, fin.). " And first, as regards priests, we 
have determined tliat the candidates for holy orders now 
in tlie seminaries be sedulously taught that one of the 
chief duties of the priest, especially in these our times, 
is the Christian instruction of j^outh, and that that 
is oiot ]?os8ible without eWier parish schools o\ others 
tridy Catholic.'''' The priest must love his schools, 
^'sicut pupillas oculorum " (as the apple of his eye), 
must visit them frequently, must teach history and 
the catechism himself, if possible, and must take care 
" that books compiled {concijinati, skillfully put to- 
gether) by Catholic writers be always used in the 
school." 

Section 'No. 202 instructs the laity that the school 
is a7i integral ])art of the parish, " without which the 
very existence of the parish, in the future, is endan- 
gered." The laity are to liberally support the schools, 
and to have certain rights and privileges in regard 
to the schools, to be more accurately defined hereafter 
by diocesan statutes — " saving ecclesiastical rights, as 
to appointing and dismissing teachers, as well as 



106 Romanism vs. The Public School System. 

rewards, discipline, and direction of teaching {doG- 
trmce).''^ 

Section ]^o. 203 provides that each bishop is to 
nominate a Diocesan Commission of Examination, to 
examine teachers and award a diploma, without which 
no teacher can be engaged in any parish school. 
This diploma is to be good iive years, and in every 
parish. At the end of this period the teacher is to 
be re-examined. Section No. 204 provides that be- 
sides this Board of Examination, school commissioners 
are to be appointed, composed of one or more priests^ 
for the inspection of schools, and snch commissioners 
are to make full reports to the hishop of the diocese. 

Section No. 207 says that these decrees must be 
" pondered and observed with religious zeal, that our 
parochial schools may more and more increase in 
number and worth, and daily stand forth not only as 
a hope and pillar of the Church, but also an honor 
and glory to the republic." 

"We have thus seen, on prime official authority — the 
Acts and Decrees of the Third Plenary Council of 
the Roman Catholic Church in the United States, and 
duly approved by the pope and cardinals — that the 
parochial schools are a distinctive part of the plan of 
the Roman Catholic hierarchy, designed to promote 
and build it up. The movement is pushed forward 
from Rome. The ol>ject is declared to be to save 



Public School Funds. 19T 

the Church from loss by lapses from the faith. The 
complaint against our public school system is that it 
is " disjointed from the autliority of the Church." 
The Catholic schools are enjoined upon parents "by 
all the authority we (the Catholic hierarchy) possess." 
" None but Catholic books, skillfully put together 
{concinnati), shall be used in the schools." They de- 
clare that the school is an integral j)art of the parish, 
" without which the very existence of the parish, in 
the future, is endangered." The " examining, ap- 
pointing, and dismissing of teachers, as well as re- 
wards, discipline, and direction of teaching {doG- 
trincB) " are " ecclesiastical riglits " not allowed the 
laity, but reserved for the hierarchy. And the desire 
is expressed that these schools may stand forth " as a 
hope and pillar of the Church." 

The Qctestion Involved. 

Now to the point involved. If the public school 
funds are divided and appropriated in aid of the 
Catholic parochial schools the money will go directly 
to build up the Roman Catholic Church — not re- 
motely or indirectly, but directly. And, moreover, 
that Church is very largely a political institution, a 
powerful combination of political and religious ele- 
ments, and, as an acute Frenchman once remarked, 
" it is more of a political than a religious institu- 



198 EoMANisM VS. The Public School System. 

tion, and tlie instruction has a direct bearing upon 
political life." 

It teaches that the Church and State are not to be 
separated ; that the Church is rightfully superior to 
the State and to the government of all States ; that 
this is the teaching of tlie infallible Church. Lot 
the application of this doctrine to their conduct 
as citizens be made at some later period in life, and 
who can doubt, if they are " good Catholics," that tliey 
will decide that their first allegiance is due to the 
Catholic Church rather than to their country ? Let 
the issue be distinctly made whether in these United 
States the Government shall control the Catholic 
Church or the Catholic Church shall control the Gov- 
ernment ; and every good Catholic is bound to do all 
in his power to subject the Government to the Cath- 
olic Church. This doctrine Mill find approbation at 
the polls ; in city, town, state and national govern- 
ment ; in legislative and congressional and judicial 
action ; in all which relations the sons of Rome will 
seek to promote her interests — the logical conse- 
quences of her hierarchical assumptions. 

Profoundly wise and full of deepest insight ai'c the 
following words : 

The movement of modern society is toward the . 
winning of victories by the subtile arts of legislation 
rather than by the crude expedient of physical force ; 



Public School Funds. 

and it is safe to say that since the Catholic Church 
was stripped of its temporal power and has been at 
liberty to devote more attention to the intellectual 
battles of legislation, it has gained more than it has 
lost through the carnal victories of its opponents. It 
is very busy and very successful in winning these vic- 
tories, and we have only to open our eyes to what is 
going on about us to see that this is so. For testi- 
mony on this point, I will refer the reader to the 
Session Laws of the State of New York, where he 
will find that, by successive steps of legislation, the 
Catholic Church has it pretty well estabhshed that it 
is entitled to special legislation for the promotion of 
its interest. It is no longer content to have its mem- 
bers controlled by the general laws that apply to the 
body of citizens in general, but at every session of 
the Legislature bills are introduced, with reference to 
the Catholic Church or some of its institutions, by 
which the principle is recognized that this Church 
constitutes a body separate and apart from the rest of 
the community, and must be legislated for by itself. 
The ordinary course of legislation is not good enough 
for it; it must have better; and it gets it. Does 
any body doubt that by this process the Catholic 
Church is exalting itself above the State in this State 
of JSTew York ? Does any body doubt that the germ 
.of its power for this end is found in its teaching of 
the doctrine of the infallibility of the Church in mat- 
ters of "faith and morals?" Does any body doubt 
that the primary motive for the establishment of 
Catholic schools is that this and similar doctrines may 
be the better instilled into the mind of the young as 
a means toward the acquirement of power ? Does 
the non-Catholic citizen think it would be a good 
thing to have these schools sustained by his money, 
taken from him by the arbitrary power of taxation ? 



200 Romanism vs. The Public School System. 

This is the practical form in which the subject of 
Catholic schools presents itself to us, and it is by ncy 
means unimportant to know what is taught in them.* 

Mistakes Made by States. 

Is it asked, Has not the State sometimes appro- 
priated funds to aid mixed educational and charitable 
institutions ? Yes ; and also to mixed religious and 
philanthropical institutions, to industrial protectorates, 
to Indian schools, etc. The moneys thus given, how- 
ever, were not regular school funds. These appro- 
priations have sometimes been made, in part, from 
considerations of convenience, because it seemed the 
easiest way to do something for a needy class. This 
system of charity-giving by the State has grown up, 
as many evil systems have developed, by a series of 
accretions, and possibly accidents, because it has been 
found easier to give money to institutions already 
existing than to found new institutions for such ends. 
But we are sure that it is a mistaken policy for the 
State to appropriate money to institutions and agen- 
cies not under the control of the State. '' State and 
private enterprises, whether religious or non-relig- 
ious, should not go into partnership, with the State, as 
a sleeping partner, furnishing in whole or in part the 
capital." 

* Article in tlic Christian Union, July 26, 1888, by John Kockwell. 



Public School Funds. 201 

Notwithstanding what has been said is it still 
asked, Are not the Catholics entitled to their share 
of the school money, if thej want it ? An objection 
pnt in this form is very popular in a republic, and it 
is pressed with great effect on some minds. Again 
and again, in a variety of forms, we hear the reitera- 
tion that Catholics " are forced to pay tribute to the 
public school system, in which they do not believe.'' 
" The Catholic considers it unfair to tax him for the 
support of the public schools, to which he cannot 
send his children." " The Catholics protest against 
paying for the education of other than their own 
children." 

Fallacy of the Plea for Exemption from 
Taxes. 

But how is it with a large class of wealthy bache- 
lors, who pay large taxes but have no children to edu- 
cate ? How many childless couples, also, there are, 
holding large property and paying large sums into 
the public treasury ! And how many wealthy families 
send their children entirely to private schools, at large 
expense ! In every large city there are many such 
schools, supported at great cost by parties who also pay 
immense taxes for the public schools. Moreover, 
there are not a few who theoretically do not believe 
in the public school system, but who, nevertheless, pay 



202 RoiiANiSM vs. The Public School System. 

taxes for its support. The Baptists, Congregation- 
alists, Methodists, Presbyterians, Episcopalians, etc., 
liave numerous academies, seminaries, etc., which 
rank with the best high schools, wiiich are supported 
entirely by those who choose to send their children 
to them, while at the same time they pay the taxes for 
public schools. If these unnumbered classes could be 
tabulated they would make a large body. Many of 
them have no choice in the matter, and some of them 
com])lain of injustice ; but they excite no sympathy. 
Why ? Because the public school system fosters the 
general intelligence, promotes public order, and con- 
tributes to the moral poise of our citizenship. In 
many ways it helps the general moral and social in- 
terests of the country and its material prosperity. 
All these classes get a full return for the taxes they 
pay. They can only complain of the compulsion ex- 
ercised upon them, and that will be in vain until they 
find something better than a government by ma- 
jorities. 

The appropriation of money to the support of dis- 
tinctively Roman Catholic schools would be very 
unjust to those citizens and taxpayers who conscien- 
tiously believe that the Roman Catholic system is 
wrong in itself, and injurious in its consequences to 
individuals and to communities. It would be such a 
union of Church and State as is forbidden by the 



Public School Funds. 203 

spirit aud tenor of American institutions. Protest- 
ants liave political and civil rights as well as Roman 
Catholics, and the support of distinctively Roman 
Catholic schools, at public expense, would be a viola- 
tion of those rights, just as the support of a distinct- 
ively Methodist, Episcopal, Baptist, or Congregational 
school, with money drawn from taxes upon the whole 
people, would be a violation of the rights of individ- 
uals not represented in the denomination receiving 
the funds. 



204 Romanism vs. The Public School System. 



QUESTION V. 

As to wlietliev, as a matter of co^nity, we 
ought not to find some ivay to divide the 
School Funds. 

WITH great show of candor tlie inquiry is made, 
whether our Roman CathoHc fellow-citizens, 
who make this demand, are not so large and respect- 
able a minority that we ought to cease to tax them for 
the support of a system in wdiich they do not believe, 
and which they feel they cannot patronize. Or, if 
still taxed, can we not find some way to give them 
their share of the school funds ? 

It must be admitted that in a republic like ours 
the majority ought to treat with deference a large and 
respectable minority, especially in matters upon which 
men are so sensitive as in respect to taxation and 
questions of conscience. Nevertheless, sometimes 
there are matters at stake too sacred to be surren- 
dered to minorities, however large and respectable. 
"VVe are ready to charitably entertain all alleged con- 
scientious scruples ; but when the conscience is the 
creature of a hierarchy, dependent upon the dictum 
of foreign ecclesiastics, and this minority is dragged 



Shall the School Funds be Divided? 205 

and coerced into its attitude, the case is very differ- 
ent. 

We cannot qnite say with Dr. Lyman Abbott, in a 
recent nnmber of the Chridicm Union, "If our 
Eoman CathoHc fellow-citizens objected to the Amer 
ican public school system, it would be very question- 
able whether we should have the right to put their 
children into the public schools, or even to do this 
indirectly, by taxing them ... to support such schools:" 
But we go on, with Dr. Abbott, to say, "Though 
great regard is to be paid to the opinions of a large 
and reputable minority in a repubhc, no such regard 
is due to the opinions of a close corporation under 
the control of a foreign potentate. And the decrees 
of the Plenary Council are the decrees of a close 
corporation under the control of a foreign potentate." 
We ought to respect the wishes of our German fellow- 
citizens. "But if a German Bund existed in America, 
all of whose officers were appointed by Bismarck, and 
Avere answerable for their action only to Bismarck, 
their opinions on public affairs would not be entitled 
to any political deference." » 

Hieearohy vs. Laitt. 

There is good reason to believe that the action of 
the Roman Catholic hierarchy in regard to the 
parochial schools does not represent the laity of 



206 Romanism vs. The Public School System. 

that Churcli. The Catholic Chnrch does not claim to 
be a representative body. The hierarchy does not 
speak yb/' but to the laity. It does not express what 
the laity want, but tells them wdiat they must take. 
The pope commands his children — does not consult 
them. The pope appoints the cardinals, and the 
cardinals elect the pope, and the pope and the 
cardinals control the Church. The Plenary Council 
was not a convention of representatives of Roman 
Catholic congregations, and all its doings, before 
becoming obligatory upon the priests and laity, had 
to be approved and confirmed by tlie pope and his 
associates in Italy. The Plenary Council at Balti- 
more represented, not American Catholic opinion, 
but Roman papal opinion, and is entitled to just so 
mnch wciglit as the opinion of any other foreign 
potentate, namely, according to his character. More 
than this, we have a right to resent his unlawful 
interference in our affiiirs. 

So far from representing the sentiment of the 
American Catholics, we have reason to tliink that the 
Plenary Council and, tlie hierarchy represent the 
reverse opinion. It is a familiar fact that more than 
once — many times — the priestliood has attacked the 
public schools, and yet against persuasions and 
commands, from tlie ]mlpit and in person, the laity 
have voted to sustain them, and have continued their 



Shall the School Funds be Diyided? 207 

children in attendance upon tlieni. Again and again 
Lave priests and bishops attempted to compel Roman 
Catholic parents, under threat of excommunication and 
privation of tlie sacraments, to withdraw their children 
from the common schools, and ever and again liave 
tiie priestly commands and threats been disregarded. 

Slow Geowth of Paeochial Schools. 

It is to be presumed that the oldest parochial 
schools in the country are the best developed, 
namely, those of New York, Brooklyn, Boston, etc. 
But in neither of these cities is a majority of even 
Roman Catholic children found in the parochial 
schools. And yet how strenuous have been the 
endeavors of tlie priesthood, by coaxing and coercion, 
to bring them into their schools ! In Boston there 
are probably 40,000 to 45,000 Roman Catholic 
cliildren between the ages of five and fifteen 
inclusive; but only a little more than Y,000 are in the 
parochial schools.* All this notwithstanding this 
school contest lias been going on from thirty to fifty 
7/ears, in different parts of the country. How slow is 
the increase, too : 

From 1860 to 1870 their pupils increased 200,000 \ 
From 1870 to 1880 " " " 169,000 

From 1880 to 1886 " " " 140,510 



* The nnmhcr has boen increased during this year, 
t See Section VI II, Part L 



20S Romanism vs. The Public School System. 

These are the statistics of Sadllerh Catholio Year- 
Book. 

In July, 1888, Father McGlynn, of New York, 
said : 

A large part of the fanatical clamor for church 
schools comes from foreign priests, M'ho care more for 
their foreign language and foreign ideas than they 
care for the Church itself. They do not wish their 
people to be Americanized. Their opposition to the 
public school is disloyalty. National common schools 
are indispensable to a common nationality. 

And a young Catholic layman, educated in the 
public schools in Boston, said to a reporter of the 
Boston Herald: 

It is unquestionably true that a very large number 
of people educated in the Catholic faith — people, let 
me say, who are loyal to the teachings of the Church 
in which they have been raised — are unalterably 
opposed to any thing that savors of a change in the 
method of educating their children. They are not in 
favor of parochial schools, and have the courage of 
their convictions to such an extent that the advocates 
of parochial schools within the Church have quite all 
they can do to answer the objections offered by this 
class to which I refer. How foolish it is, then, to 
alienate these people and force tliem, by ungenerous 
and bigoted attacks upon the Church which, from 
their youth, they have been taught to regard with 
reverence, to go over to the side of the more intolerant ! 
My belief is, and it is shared by a majority of those 
who were educated in the public schools, that re- 
ligious teaching should have no part in the public 



Shall the School Funds be Divided? 209 

school system of education. 1 do not want my 
children taught any thing but what strictly belongs 
to secular education. 

What stronger evidence that their people are most 
obstinately holding back from the Catholic schools 
and tenaciously holding on to the public school 
system ? Why? Because they do not believe in the 
Catholic school system. 

The specious plea, therefore, that we ought to 
respect the sentiments of a large mass of Roman 
Catholics, the majority of their laity, is not well 
founded, either in fact or in principle. And the 
hierarchy, which has presumed to speak for the 
Church, only represents a foreign, self-assuming, 
imperious corporation. We do not ask them what is 
for. the good of this republic. The great mass of 
Roman Catholic people favor the perpetuation of our 
American common school system. 

As to the question of tolerance, we ask, Who is the 

intolerant party ? It looks as though either Catholic 

consciences or Protestant consciences must be hurt. 

We see no tliird alternative. The Catholic conscience, 

however, in this matter is not the conscience of the 

masses of Catholics, who do not object to the public 

school system, but rather favor it, but that artificial 

ecclesiastical conscience which the foreign hierarchy 

has produced. And those representing this kind of 
14 



210 Romanism vs. The Public School System. 

conscience are a very small minority, whom it is bet- 
ter to hurt, in this extreme case, than to hurt the con- 
sciences of the overwhelming majority of the nation. 
The nation has rights of conscience as well as irrecon- 
cilable minorities. It is as intolerant that a small 
hierarchical minority should dictate our national pol- 
icy, as for the Orange Lodges of Ulster to attempt to 
rule all Ireland. A part can never be greater than 
the whole. The rights of a minority pushed to an 
extreme become the wrongs of the majority. 

It is a self-delusion to say, " You must not take my 
money in public taxes, and then use it for any object 
of which my conscience disapproves." What non- 
sense ! No civilized government could be adminis- 
tered on such a basis. The Quaker disapproves of 
war, but he must pay the war-tax all the same. Gov- 
ernment could not be carried on a single day if this 
principle were observed. " The conscience of the 
minority can never be allowed to become the tyrant 
autocrat of the nation." 

In a New England city, some intelligent Catholics 
desiring to liberalize some of their church matters 
asked the bishop if it could not be done if the major- 
ity of the parish favored it. Straightening up into a 
lordly attitude the bishop answered, "/ a7/i the ma- 
jority ! " 



Is A COMPBOMISE POSSIBLE? 211 



QUESTION VI. 
Is a CowiproTtiise JPossible ? 

IS it possible to harmoniously adjust the differences 
involved in this great controversy ? I think I 
voice the sentiments of the mass of American citi- 
zens when I say a settlement would be hailed with 
delight, if placed upon an honorable basis, and if it 
could give security for the integrity and welfare of 
our civil institutions. I am sure none of us desire to 
take advantage of our majority in the popular vote. 
We do not wish to force the question against the 
Koman Catholics. It is chiefly a question of self- 
preservation — preserving the integrity of our institu- 
tions. 

What are some of the plans for a compromise ? 

The one which meets us first is the old proposition 
we have been combating — namely, to divide the 
school funds ; giving to Koman Catholics their share, 
and to Protestants their share. This proposition 
keeps re-appearing like Banquo's ghost. But it is no 
compromise. It is the ultimate demand of the Cath- 
olics, with no concession whatever. 

But Protestant Churches do not want their part of 



212 Romanism vs. The Public School Svstem. 

the funds divided off to them, for they do not want 
to set up parocliial scliools. They prefer State 
schools for their children and for the masses outside 
of all denominational relations. They think the best 
interests of the republic require the public school 
system, and that the welfare of the whole country 
should be considered rather than the wishes of a 
single denomination, and especially when the de- 
mands of that denomination are stimulated by the 
dictation of a foreign hierarchy. Who are most en- 
titled to be considered, in a republic like ours : the 
Roman Catholics, who constitute only about 12|- per 
cent., or the non-Catholics, who constitute 87|- per 
cent, of the total population ? We need not press an 
answer. The Protestants do not want a share of the 
school funds divided to them. They do not want the 
school system dismembered ; and, more than this, we 
have before shown that we have good reason to think 
the majority of Roman Catholics are opposed to such 
a division. 

The Real Point. 

The issue is not between Roman Catholic educa- 
tion and Protestant education as such ; if it were 
there might be some plausibility in the demand. 
But the question is whether we will make our national 
education ecclesiastical, as would be the case if the 



Is A Compromise Possible? 213 

funds were divided and distributed among the de- 
nominations. We are not ready for this. We ob- 
ject to education controlled by the various Protestant 
denominations as truly as we do to education controlled 
by Roman Catholics. " There is, indeed, a differ- 
ence, and an important one, " as has been well 
stated ; * " the former would be ruled by Americans, 
and in the interest of America; the latter by the 
pope, and in the interest of the papacy ; the former 
by a body of men themselves ruled by the public 
sentiment of their nation ; the latter by a foreign 
potentate, having no interest in American well-being, 
and not amenable to American public opinion, nor 
even to American law. But hotli would he ecclesias- 
tical. And it is to ecclesiastical, not merely to 
Romish ecclesiastical, control of our systems of edu- 
cation that we object." It is in the interest of re- 
ligion^ and of education^ and of the repvMic that we 
make this protest. 

Another proposition f is, " To leave all the schools 
under the control of the State, to allow the State to 
build the school-houses, to select the text-books, to 
adjust the curriculum, and even conduct the examina- 
tions, provided the Church of Rome may select and 
appoint the teachers." Rev. Bishop McQuaid % de- 

* Christian Wnion, May 31, 1888. \ Christian Union^ May 31, 1888. 
X In an interview in December, 1875. 



214 EoMANisM VS. The Public School System. 

scribed the working of this plan in Lima and Pough- 
keepsie, N. Y. : 

Repokter. How was the parochial school incorpo- 
rated at Lima ? 

Bishop. Thej had no room for all the pupils who 
wished to attend the district school, and therefore 
proposed to the Catholics that the latter should re- 
open theirs, which had been closed. This was done, 
and at first lay teachers gave instrnction at the paro- 
chial school, the authorities paying all expenses. On 
the 1st of January we said : " Will you pay sisters 
as well as lay teachers ? " And they consented, pro- 
vided the sisters could pass the necessary examina- 
tion. I was asked if the sisters should submit to such 
a test, and replied, " Certainly. We want no teachers 
who are unable to show abundant familiarity with 
the ordinary studies required." The superintendent 
of Livingston County appointed a day for the examina- 
tion, which was to take place at Livonia, and two 
sisters were sent there. But, unfortunately, the poor 
sisters in some way missed the train, and, not wishing 
to fail in the appointment, hired a carriage and rode 
the entire distance of twenty-six miles on as cold a 
day as we had last winter. The examination lasted 
two hours and proved satisfactory. The school is 
still in active operation. No religious instruction is 
given during ordinary school-hours, and any body 
can come to see that there is no violation of this 
rule. The school authorities pay the salaries- of two 
sisters, but a third is paid for by the parents. Cath- 
olic children outside of the village attend school and 
pay a rate therefor. There is a parochial school at 
Corning conducted on the same plan. Li Pougli- 
keepsie the plan has been in successful operation for 
two years. All Catholic pupils attend a single school 



Is A COMPKOMISE POSSIBLE? 215 

in whicli no religious instruction is given during or- 
dinary school-hours, but the teachers are selected by 
the authorities and paid by the city school author- 
ities. 

It is believed that this plan has not worked satis- 
factorily to either party ; for, as has been well said, 
" whoever controls the teachers really controls the 
school. For the school is a teaching institution, and 
to control the teachers is to control the quality, and 
character, and spirit of the teaching. Let who will 
determine the creed* of the Church; he who chooses 
its ministry shapes its future. The power of the 
school is the personal power of the teacher ; whoever 
exercises that power exercises the real control over 
the school. Compromises should be equal. What 
would the hiei-archy say to the proposition that the 
Church should fix the curriculum, and the State se- 
lect the teacliers? A skillful Protestant could so 
teach the Roman Catholic catechism as to turn half 
her pupils out, at the end of the year, impregnated 
with Protestantism." * 

Another proposition which has been considered is 
to leavB the school-houses in control of the State, and 
allow the ministers of religion to teach religion before 
and after tlie session of the school. Rev. Bishop 
McQnaid, in the interview just referred to, said : 

* Christian Union., May 31, 1880. 



216 Romanism vs. The Public School System. 

The State cannot reach all these children, but we 
can, and we do not ask the State to pay for the relig- 
ions influences we throw around these children, but 
simply for the secular teachings they receive. We 
erect the buildings, provide the teachers, who shall, 
however, be subject to the examinations required by 
the State ; and then for a nominal i-ental we allow 
the State full control of these schools, during the or- 
dinary school-hours, in which time only secular in- 
struction shall be given. Before and after such hours 
we propose to give the pupils such religious teaching 
as we deem essential in the education of youth. The 
plan is already in practical operation at Corning, 
Elmira, and Lima, and by the co-operation of Repub- ' 
licans, and still more markedly iii the schools of the 
Children's Aid Society in New York. The same 
principle is carried out in most of the public schools 
of the State, in which, before and after school-hours, 
religious exercises in harmony with the convictions 
of the parents are commonly held, where they are 
not as a rule the practice during school-hours. 

But the hierarchy has rejected this plan, and that 
wisely, for, as Dr. Abbott has said, " Religion cannot 
be done up in a separate parcel and handed out to 
the pupil after school is over. Religion is not a 
fringe that can be tacked on or left off a garment. 
It is a dye impregnating every thread of the pattern." 

Another Scheme 

has just come to'public attention. A large influential 
journal * gives the following fact : 

* Boslon Journal, October 27, 1888. 



Is A COMPEOMISE POSSIBLE? 217 

The report of the Superintendent of Public In- 
struction for the State of New York for the cur- 
rent year contains an interesting account of a Cath- 
olic school experiment. For twenty years St. Ea- 
phaeFs CathoKc Church in Suspension Bridge has had 
a parish school. In 1885 the church asked the local 
Board of Education to take this school under its care 
and maintenance and to allow the sisters in charge to 
remain as teachers. This was done. The school was 
continued as before, under sisters in their garb, but at 
the public expense, the board leasing the building 
from the church at a rental of a dollar a year. In 
1886 the acting State Superintendent decided that this 
arrangement was an illegal discrimination in favor of 
a certain class, and void. Some minor change was 
then made, and the lease continued for five years. 
The matter was again appealed to the State Superin- 
tendent, and he concluded that a decided discrimination 
was made in favor of the Catholic Church in employ- 
ing sisters who dressed in the garb of their order, with 
beads and crucifix, and were addressed as " Sister Mary," 
" Sister Martha," etc. The Superintendent says : 

The conclusion is irresistible that these things may 
constitute a much stronger sectarian or denomina- 
tional influence over the minds of children, than the 
repetition of the Lord's Prayer or the reading of the 
Scriptures at the opening of the schools ; and yet these 
things have been prohibited, whenever objection has 



218 Romanism vs. The Public School System. 

been offered' by tlie rulings of this department from 
the earHest days, because of the purpose enshrined in 
the Jiearts of the people, and embedded in the funda- 
mental law of the State, that the public school system 
shall be kept altogether free from matters not essential 
to its primary purpose and dangerous to its harmony 
and efficiency. 

The Superintendent directed that the sisters, within 
fifteen days, should put off their rehgious costume, 
and should be addi'essed by their names, as Miss So- 
and-so. As they would not do so the connection of 
the school with the public schools ceased. 

In November, 1876, Eev. Father Preston, Vicar- 
General of the New York Diocese, attempted to state 

Two Possible Solutions : 

There are only two solutions to this difficulty — 
either exempt from taxation those who do not desire 
to send their children to common schools, or else give 
to every private denominational school its proportion 
of the taxes generally raised. "Where is the difficulty 
in the way? Where the objection to either solution? 
There can justly be none. If yon can exempt us 
from taxation, then of course we shall have nothing 
to complain of. Let those who want schools liave 
them ; but if the State tliinks it best and most expe- 
dient to impose a tax for the support of education, 
then let it divide the sums so raised by taxation in a 
manner as^reeable to itself amonof all classes of its 
citizens. 

It is urged as an objection that it would be difficult 
for us to establish a system on which taxation should 



Is A Compromise Possible? 219 

be divided, as there are many poor Catholics who 
have children to be educated but no taxable property, 
personal or real estate. Well, we only ask what is 
just. We are not begging for a donation. But I 
know of poor Catholics who have to help to support 
the common schools for rich Protestants' sons, and 
have to help build and support Catholic schools be- 
sides. 

These propositions are only slightly different from 
others. But at the risk of repeating somewhat, they 
will be noticed. It requires but a moment's consid- 
ei'ation to see that Father Preston's arguments, how- 
ever plausible they may have seemed to the Catholic 
audience to whom they were addressed, overlook the 
prime duty of popular government to perpetuate it- 
self, and that in consulting in regard to securing the 
greatest freedom it must also consult tlie greatest 
welfare of all. To accomplish this some restraints 
and requirements must be imposed upon the inhabit- 
ants. If Catholics are to be relieved fi'om taxation 
because they do not believe in the policy of non-sec- 
tarian schools, tlie Methodists, Baptists, and all other 
denominations may make the same demands. So may 
those who pay the largest tax, and send no children 
to the schools, inquire if this is a free country. The 
result of this proposition would be, that there would 
be nobody left to be taxed to support schools for the 
great mass of children whose parents are too poor to 



220 EoMANisM vs. The Public School System. 

educate them at their own expense, and could not 
pay taxes necessary to support the proper schools. 

The other proposition is no less mischievous. 
Suppose the Catholics to be allowed their portion of 
the school money, could other denominations be de- 
nied the privilege, should they demand it? If this 
were done would not the whole school fund be frit- 
tered away, while there yet remained a large class of 
children, most needing schools, for whom no adequate 
provision could be made ? Besides, what manner of 
teaching could we expect in schools exclusively sec- 
tarian ? 

The Separate Schools Act, 

adopted in the Province of Ontario, Canada, is an- 
other plan of compromise. It provides that a given 
number of Roman Catholic or Protestant or colored 
" rate- payers " petitioning to be permitted to set up 
" separate schools," will be allowed to do so. They 
may then produce certificates showing that they are 
tax-payers, and be excused from the payment of their 
portion of the public taxes which goes to support the 
public schools. The schools which they shall thus 
set up are to report their registers to the Public 
School Board, etc. 

This system is a residuum from a prior s^'^stem un- 
der the old Legislative Union (1841-1867), and per- 



Is A COMPKOMISE POSSIBLE? 221 

petuated under the British l^ortli-American Act. 
But we are informed that even this system does not 
relieve the public school system of the province from 
Romish interference and maneuvering. The priests 
bring their influence to bear upon the public school 
system, and endeavor to promote their interests in 
ways often very irritating. 

Kadical Antagonism. 

The antagonism between the two systems is so 
radical that they cannot be compromised without the 
destruction of one or both. "It is a question of 
supreme control,* and who can show how supreme 
control can be divided ? The American theory is 
that the public school system, supported by the 
State, must be controlled by the State, and that such 
management is necessary to the maintenance of re- 
publican institutions. The papal hierarchy claims 
that the ChuToh holds the exclusive function of di- 
recting and controlling education. Americans claim 
that education must be American in its ideas and 
spirit, that it must be controlled by Americans, and 
administered to make loyal citizens of America. Tlie 
hierarchy claim that it must l^e Roman Catholic — 
controlled by Rome and administered to make loyal 
children of Rome." * How can such contrary issues 

* See editorial in CJirisiian Union, May 31, 1888, p. 675. 



222 Romanism vs. The Public School System. 

be harmonized ? They must be settled one way or 
the other. There seems to be no middle ground. 
The hierarchy will not be satisfied unless we concede 
its claims — a question of absolute self-surrender — in- 
volving, in its sequence, the surrender of our repub- 
lican institutions. Most effectively and powerfully 
is this question put in the Christian Union : * 

" The real question at issue between the republic 
and the hierarchy is not, What shall be taught f nor 
who shall teach? but in what spirit and to what end 
shall the teaching be conducted ? The Roman Cath- 
olic hierarchy declares that our free school system is 
Protestant ; and it is more than half right. The 
object of the hierarchy is to teach submission ; the 
object of our free school system is to teach independ- 
ence. The one forbids questioning ; the other stim- 
ulates it. The one conducts every inquirer to an 
infallible Church ; the other throws him back upon 
himself. The one bids him listen and obey ; the 
other bids him investigate and learn. The one 
teaches him to submit ; the other teaches him to 
think. The one drills him to be a private in a 
magnificent army ; the other invests him with poM^er 
of self-command in a self-governed community. The 
one, as we have already said, makes him an obedient 
child of Rome ; the other an authoritative citizen 

*May 31, 1888. Two articles, in successive nuiiil>ers. 



Is A COMPEOMISE POSSIBLE? 223 

of a free republic. To him who asks for the truth 
Home gives only authority ; to him who asks for 
authority the republic gives only truth. These roads 
do not lead in the same direction, and cannot conduct 
to the same goal. Rome has never made an inde- 
pendent people ; she never can. That independence 
w^hicli is our pride is her anathema. That individ- 
ualism of judgment which we seek to create she 
seeks to destroy. It is idle to propose a compro- 
mise between two systems thus antagonistic, in their 
origin, their methods of administration, their spirit 
and scope, and the ends which they severally pursue. 
The American citizen must decide between the eccle- 
siastical and the non ecclesiastical systems of educa- 
tion — between the system which has produced Italy, 
Spain, France, and Ireland, and the system which has 
produced the northern half of the United States. 
He cannot combine them. Keither compromise nor 
alliance is possible." 

The conditions demanded by the papacy involve 
the certain destruction of the public school system. 



224 EoMANisM vs. The Public School System. 



QUESTION VII. 

Can hoth parties patronise the JPiihUc 
Schools harmoniously, and on what 
basis ? 

THE answer to this question is found in the plain, 
familiar facts of our public school history. This 
is what has been done all along, for many years, with 
very little irritation, only occasional disturbance, and 
that not amounting to much, except under these re- 
cent demands by the hierarchy for a division of the 
school funds. And even now, notwithstanding these 
demands, so far as the adir>inistration of the work 
of the schools and tlie scholarly drill and improve- 
ment of the pupils are concerned, and these are the 
chief things, the schools are doing well, quite as 
well as ever. The exceptions, if any, are exceedingly 
rare. 

Almost all parties seem to be well impressed with 
the importance of harmonizing the administration 
of the public schools, so that Catholics and Protest- 
ants and the diverse nationalities may pursue their 
studies together without embarrassment. In a re- 
public like ours all classes must be mingled together, 



' Patronize the Public Schools. 225 

and tanglit to work together, in every possible way, 
from cliildliood upward. It is the only way to make 
them homogeneous, especially while receiving such 
large immigration. The earlier in life this fusing of 
diverse nationalities is begun the better, for it is com- 
paratively difficult in advanced years. The public 
schools can undoubtedly be harmoniously conducted 
on the plan of making American citizens, not Roman- 
ists or Protestants, if both parties will treat each 
other equitably. Civil and religious liberty must be 
held inviolable. Any attempt at intolerance, in the 
working of either our political or educational system, 
by Catholics against Protestants, or by Protestants 
against Catholics, will hinder the working of the as- 
similating process, so necessary to make a homogen- 
eous people, and imperil our institutions. 

Ultkaism. 

In times of excitement it is natural that some 
persons will give utterance to ultra and unreasonable 
views. I call attention to two specimens — one by a 
Roman Catholic periodical and the other by a Prot- 
estant mass-meeting, and both quite recent : 

Within a few weeks the Catholic Review made a 
very ultra utterance. It said : * "It is impossible to 
teach modern history in a mixed school. Every inch 

*July, 1888. 
15 



226 Romanism vs. The Public School System. 

of it (modern history) is contested ground, and er^p;.;- 
cially liave the annals of tlie last fonr centuries 
been covered and swamped by swarms of malignant 
falsifiers, and twisted into fantastic shapes in the 
heat of fierce coiUroversies. No teacher can teach 
this history to a child of a different faith without 
wonnding the hitter's feelings, and attacking her re- 
ligion ; and just in proportion to the person's earnest- 
ness of belief will be the harshness of the wound and 
the bitterness of the attack. The remedy for 
Catholics can only be found in our parochial 
schools." 

This is a very nltra position. It is certain that 
modern history cannot be radicall}'^ changed. In 
coming out of a condition of mediseval ideas and civ- 
ilization into a condition of newer thought and ad- 
vanced civilization, and in tracing the conflicts and 
wrecks of the old fabrics, consequent upon putting 
new wine into old bottles, some things will be found 
in the records of tliat progress not complimentary to 
some classes of people. But we ought all of us, how- 
ever related to the past, to be able to look upon the 
history of those events with calmness, and treat each 
other magnanimously. The kind of education which 
teaches people to do this is the very kind most im- 
portant to enable diverse peoples to live and act to- 
gether in a republic. The argument is in favor of 



Pateonize the Public Schools. 227 

our public scliool system, and sliows why and how 
it should be maintained. 

The Protestant ultraism to which I referred declared 
that " No Koman Catholics should be elected to the 
School Board; that no Roman Catholic teachers should 
be employed in the public schools " — an absurdity 
which cannot be allowed in a country where all re- 
ligions are equally tolerated and education is equally 
provided for all. We Protestants will have our pref- 
ences, and will show them in our votes, but we can- 
not afford to advocate such dogmas as those just 
quoted. In so doing we would ourselves introduce 
sectarianism into the public schools — the very thing 
we complain of the Poman Catholics for doing. 

How TO Do It. 

If all classes are to use the public schools several 
conditions must be faithfully observed. 

1, There must be no religious instruction in them. 
If attempted it will be likely to savor of some par- 
ticular sect. To attempt it would be inconsistent 
with the American system of government, and peril- 
ous to the successful administration of the school 
system. A purely secular basis is the only basis on 
which all citizens can unite. Then no one's doctrines 
are assailed or slurred. There is abundant oppor- 
tunity for parents, Sunday-schools, and churches to 



228 KoMANisM vs. The Public School System. 

look after tlie religious education, the public school 
occupying only about one sixth of the hours of the 
year. The public school can succeed oidy on a com- 
pletely non-sectarian, absolutely secular basis. On any 
other plan it is doomed. 

We have no doubt that some great elements of mo- 
rality may and should be taught — reverence for God, 
honesty, loyalty to law and government, the duty of 
worship, chastity, rights of property, etc. Morality 
relates to right action, right relations between man 
and man. There are many of these elements of 
morals common to all religionists. 

2. The administration must be without sectarian 
bias or partiality. The people will never knowingly 
consent to have any sect or denomination interfere 
with, control or bias the public school. Every de- 
nomination must be served alike ; otherwise it will 
justly claim its share of the funds. This must be 
honestly and squarely done. 

3. In the department of historical studies — almost 
the only one where differences are likely to arise — an 
unswerving rule must be adhered to. All necessary 
facts should be taught with perfect indifference to 
the likes or dislikes of any Church. Historical truth 
cares for nothing but cold facts. Says Rev. Di-. 
Quint, in the Congregatioytalist : * " If, in the study of 

* August 2, 1888. 



Pateonize the Public Schools. 229 

history, tlie school comes against some incident which 
ought to be taught, the plain fact should be stated, 
whatever it may be — taught naturally, and in the 
right spirit, with no intent or appearance of slurring 
any body, and no effort to misrepresent present views. 
It should make no difference whether it is oris not 
unpleasant reading for any nation or for any sect. It 
would not be at all agreeable to Congregationalists to 
have it stated that their Puritan forefathers impris- 
oned Baptists and hung Quakers ; but, if that is a 
fact, it cannot be blotted out of history, and if it is 
presented -as a mere fact, and without an attempt to 
shadow any body but those who did it, we cannot 
complain. Tetzel did something in regard to indul- 
gences which was the occasion of a tremendous con- 
flict in the world's history. What he did is easily 
ascertained, and school history cannot ignore it. If 
his Church sustained or did not sustain him in what 
he did, that, too, is a matter of history. There is no 
difficulty in stating the facts in a calm, unimpassioned 
judicial manner. If, for any reason, the facts should 
be unpleasant to his Church, that Church must do as 
the Congregationalists do when the treatment of the 
Quakers is referred to. The State cannot inquire 
whether any Church likes or dislikes the record of 
past ages. This is a fair platform upon which all 
citizens can stand ; and on that platform they will 



230 Romanism vs. The Public School System. 

stand, and not pervert nor ignore history, either from 
policy or fear. Its teachings should not, however, 
ascribe to any denomination an interpretation of its 
doctrines, either by inference, omission, or direct 
statement, whicli that Church disclaims. Pupils 
must not be taught that Congregationalists now be- 
lieve in hanging Quakers because Congregationalists 
hung Quakers two hundred years ago." 

4. In the selection of teachers the School Board 
should know no denomination. Instances have been 
known where, for a number of years, every teacher 
in the public schools belonged to one particular de- 
nomination, and every member of the school com- 
mittee also. Not long ago there was a teacher in the 
high school of one of our New England State capi- 
tals who had a Catholic wife who was an assistant, 
teaching French and botany, and a very superior 
teacher. This gentleman, himself a Protestant, and 
attending a Protestant church, was dismissed solely 
because he had a Catholic wufe. These things should 
not be allowed to occur. 

5. Great wisdom should be exercised, in the admin- 
istration of the public school affairs, to guard against 
the appearance of unfairness. When sectarian ques- 
tions arise they should be met openly, carefully, with 
cautious examination, and full statements should be 
frankly made to the people. If there is an unseemly 



Patronize the Public Schools. 231 

haste, or an appearance of privacy, or a disposition to 
shun a franlc statement of the case, a sensitive people 
will suspect some sectarian or political maneuvci-. 
Perfect fairness, inflexible firmness, and an unques- 
tioned frankness will succeed, 

6. The public schools must not only be managed 
in a non-sectarian, but also in a non-partisan, way — 
kept free from the control of any political party, 
however dominant. In New York city, the public 
school sj'stem is thoroughly honeycombed at every 
point by the vermin of party politics, and such pol- 
itics — saloon-dominated, priest-ridden, and money- 
grabbing politics — as have long characterized that 
locality. Tiie best thing for the schools is not done, 
but " soft " places are given to unworthy persons, 
and school appointments are made for the ends of 
the dominant party. Tliis evil has reached a pitch 
where a voluntary committee of citizens is said to 
be forming for the purpose of watching the educa- 
tional authorities, and bringing the State machine 
into accord with the reasonable demands of the com- 
munity. "The same influence," said the Boston 
Herald of August 1, " is creeping over the schools 
in Boston, where it seems to be the height of am- 
bition with some to get an election to a place on the 
School Board, and it is not unknown in other cities. 
This possibility of corruption exists in the very na- 



232 KoMANiSM vs. The Public School System. 

ture of a free government. It is not the fault of 
State education as such." The people should wisely 
discriminate and select, where such sacred and impor- 
tant interests as the education of the young are to be 
intrusted to men in responsible positions, that they 
be not committed to such persons as will wrestle 
with one another over the appointment of their 
favorites to posts of responsibility in the schools. 

Things to be Avoided. 

The sectarianism which must be avoided, if Cath- 
olic and Protestant children are to be educated to- 
gether in the same schools, and if the public school 
system is to be preserved in its integrity, is of a two- 
fold character. 

First, there is the Roman Catholic sectarianism 
which continually echoes the demand for a share of 
the public school money ; which, in some instances, 
has put members of brotherhoods and sisterhoods into 
the public schools as instructors, breathing the relig- 
ious airs and wearing the garb and other insignia of 
Rome ; which on the Sabbath preceding school 
elections has advocated its candidates from Cath- 
olic pulpits and distributed its ballots in the churches; 
which allies itself with the low saloon and money- 
grabbing element, as in New Yoi-k city, for the ac- 
complishment of Catholic ascendency and the control 



Pateonize the Public Schools. 233 

of school matters ; which improves every opportunity 
in the schools to push historical, sectarian, and ethical, 
questions into disputed and sensitive arenas ; and 
which so administers the work of school boards and 
school instruction as to provoke suspicion that they 
are seeking to Romanize the common school system. 
Secondly, there is a Protestant sectarianism, no less 
baneful in its influences, which denies to Roman 
Catholics a place upon the School Board or as teach- 
ers in the public schools, notwithstanding, in some in- 
stances, one half of the pupils are from Roman Cath- 
olic families ; which insist upon retaining as a part 
of the public school system forms of worship to 
which Roman Catholics object; which would retain 
in the text-books passages touching upon disputed 
grounds between Protestants and Roman Catholics ; 
w^hich is continually on the qui vive for the slightest 
suspicions of any purpose of the Romanists to cap- 
ture the public schools ; w^iich foams at the mouth 
whenever reasonable concessions are made in favor of 
conscientious scruples ; which is intolerant toward 
estimable, experienced, broad-minded men who ad- 
vocate fair-play when heated controversialists rave ; 
which sometimes denies to Roman Catholics the 
rights of citizenship, and w^iich, at this late day, in- 
sists upon putting the Protestant Bible back into the 
public schools. 



234: Romanism vs. The Public School System. 

Examples of Intolerance. 

I will now cite two instances of intolerance — one 
Protestant and the other Roman Catholic — both of 
them examples of what is to be deprecated and 
avoided. 

The first, a case of Protestant intolerance, we 
qnote from the Christian Register. * It occurred 
some years ago, in Charlestown, Mass. '' A graduate 
of Harvard College was appointed to the position of 
sub-master. He was a thorough schohar, a natural 
gentleman, an excellent teacher. After a while, 
however, it was discovered that he was a Catholic, 
although he did not introduce his special religious 
beliefs into the school-room. At the close of the 
year the question of his re-appointment came up. 
The School Board was made up entirely of Protest- 
ants, and they declined to re-elect him. One meml)er 
.of the Board asked a postp(^nement of the nuitter for 
two weeks. In that time he secured the signatures 
of the parents or guardians of every child in the 
school, favoring his re-election. Nevertheless, in 
spite of tliis overwhelming appeal from the constitu- 
ency of the-school, the committee, under the lead of 
a narrow-minded Baptist clergyman, dismissed him 
because he was a Catholic. Of the sixty teachers, if 

* July 19, 1888. 



Pateonize the Public Schools. 235 

we I'einember the number correctly, nnder the juris- 
diction of that Board, every one was a Protestant. 
It would be hard to find any thing in the annals of 
Catholicism more humiliating or disgraceful than 
such a course of action in an American school. This 
is an example of the extreme of injustice to which 
Protestantism may go when it yields to the sectarian 
spirit in the management of the public schools." 

Some years ago a correspondent of the New Yorh 
Evangelist gave an instance of Poman Catholic intol- 
erance in the public schools of Pennsylvania, in a 
locality where the Romanists held the sway. 

Loretto, in Blair County, on the summit of the 
Alleghanies, was originally a Romish settlement, and 
named in honor of '• Our Lady" of that name. To 
this day the Romish catechism is taught in the regu- 
lar course in the public schools, supported by the 
people, under the school law of the State. When 
Protestant parents, of whom there is a sprinkling in 
the town, protest, they are summaril)^ told, " if they 
do not like it they may keep their children at home." 

Such intolerance as these two cases show must be 
discarded, if we are to keep all our children in the 
public schools. 

An Example of Good Sense. 

I will now cite another instance in which a Protest- 
ant teacher and a Roman Catholic priest both showed 



236 Romanism vs. The Public School System. 

great forbearance, commendable discrimination and 
wisdom — an example of the spirit to be cherished in 
order to make our public school system acceptable 
to both Catholics and Protestants. I quote fi'om an 
editorial in the Christian Register : * 

"One of the most successful teachers in Boston 
taught forty-seven years in the public schools. He 
had a school in which eight out of every ten were 
foreigners, and from fifty to sixty per cent, of the 
whole number were Catholics. In this term of nearly 
half a century, this master of a Boston school never had 
any trouble with his pupils on the question of relig- 
ion. He managed with tact and discretion. Instead 
of compelling his scholars to recite the Lord's Prayer 
with him, he simply required that they should main- 
tain a respectful deportment while he said the prayer 
aloud himself, those being permitted to join in who 
wished to. The only time when there seemed any 
danger of a religious collision was when he punished 
a Catholic boy, not for refusing to say the prayer, but 
for not maintaining a respectful deportment when 
prayer was said. The priest to whom the boy 
appealed wrote a note to the teacher, thanking him 
for the action lie had taken. Yet this same priest 
was at that very time suing the city of Boston be- 
cause another school-master, under direction of an in- 

* July 19, 1888. 



Pateonize the Public Schools. 237 

judicious member of the School Committee, had 
whipped a boy for refusing to say the Protestant ver- 
sion of the Lord's Prayer. The priest saw the dif- 
ference between the two cases. In one case, the boy 
was punished for refusing to say a form of prayer 
which was contrary to the usages of his own church. 
In the other case, he was simply punished for bad 
behavior. The incident showed that the Protestant 
school-master and the Catholic priest could see dis- 
tinctions with a difference, and yet have no difference 
over their distinctions." 

Such a spirit will help to conserve the public 
school system. For the continuance of the public 
school system we plead, and ask that Protestants 
and Catholics may so combine and harmonize in its 
management and use that it may be preserved. We 
believe that the existence of this system, supported 
and controlled, absolutely and entirely, by the State, 
is a fundamental need of this Republic, and that the 
logical trend of the Poman Catholic demand is the 
destruction of this school system. 



238 lloMANisM VS. The Pcblic School System. 



QUESTION VIII. 

What may ive Expect Homanists to do 
ill the Jfiituref and How shall ive Pre- 
serve our School System ? 

THE liierarcliy will doubtless take out of tlie public 
schools all the chiltlrcn they cau iuflueuce by all 
the arts they cau briuj^ to bear upou the pareuts. 
Bishop McQuaid said, "The Catholics will go ou 
supportiug their parochial schools, as they have a rii^ht 
to do, trustiug to the sober second thought of the 
Auierican people to do them justice." A large num- 
ber of Catholic children, however, will remain in the 
public schools. 

The Romish population is too open to the influ- 
ence of American ideas not to have a tendency to 
revolt from this heavy burden, and from the manifest 
disadvantage on the part of their children in those 
schools, however severe the priestly infliction. This 
tendency to revolt from priestly dominance will be 
skillfully manipulated. The power of the confes- 
sional, of the pulpit, of pastoral visitation, and the 
awful power which belongs to men who can deny the 
sacraments, wall all be used to draw the Catholic 



What to Expect of the Romanists. 230 

population into absolute acquiescence with the p.i- 
vocliial school demands. This tendency to revolt 
should be adroitly as well as vehemently supported 
by Protestant discussion, clear, broad, kindly and co- 
gent. 

But whether they continue to patronize the public 
schools or not, one of their papers* says that Roman- 
ists will continue to elect their candidates to pul)lic 
school boards, will put in all the Roman Catholic 
teachers they can, and in every possible way exert a 
controlling influence in public school matters, so long 
as they are taxed for the support of the system. The 
hierarchy will still maintain an attitude of persistent, 
determined opposition. The Churcli of Rome w^ill 
propose no compromise, but will persist in lier course, 
as she has done in the past, only more determinedly. 
It is a long contest upon which we have entered. We 
must adjust ourselves to it. We must not deceive 
ourselves with vain hopes of speedy peace, nor be 
deceived by Rome's specious maneuverings. 

The editor of the CJiristian Union has, put the 
points very effectively : 

The universal diffusion of Catholic education means 
something more than the opening of schools in every 
parish ; it means a steady and unrelenting attack on our 
common schools ; not on that abstract thing called the 

* The Pilot. 



2iO EoMANisM 'VS. The Public School System. 

Common Scliool System, but on every school in every 
locality v^^liere the Catholic voting population has any 
strength. This result was inevitable. Catholics have 
the same indisposition to pay taxes which character- 
izes the great majority of men of all faiths. They 
are compelled to support their own Church schools ; 
they are not disposed to support the common schools 
in addition. Wherever the way is open they will, as 
a matter of course, use their power to control or crip- 
ple the common schools. The great struggle between 
our schools and this vigilant, uncompromising foe, will 
not be fought out in Congi-ess or in legislatures, in 
newspapers or pulpits. It will be fought in every school 
district in the country. There will be no great or 
decisive battle, but a long series of skirmishes. Every 
school-meeting will be contested, and on the result of 
these minor contests the struggle itself will turn. 
Henceforth eternal vigilance will be the price we shall 
pay for our common schools ; henceforth no man who 
cares for his community or his country can afford to 
shirk a duty which has been more honored in the 
breach than in the observance. 

In many communities these foes of the common 
schools will not lack for allies who will, consciously or 
unconsciously, work with and for them ; men who will 
fail to see that they are being used as tools by a power 
which has never failed of the highest sagacity in 
using those who ai-e too short-sighted or too seltish to 
comprehend the real issues involved. The only reply 
whicJi nnist be made to the establishment of the paro- 
chial school must be the increased efficiency of the 
common school. Sooner or later the best school will 
win. Our Catholic fellow-citizens know the value of 
education; they love their children, and after the Jlrst 
stages of this movement are past they will care more 
for the interest of their children than for the com- 



What to Expect of the Eomanists. 241 

mands of the Cliurcli. In matters not distinctively 
religions, the great body of American Catholics will 
never submit to dictation from Rome ; they are too 
intelligent and too independent. In the long run, there- 
fore, the best school will win ; and the only way to 
meet the parochial school is to meet it with a common 
school so superior to it in its educational opportunities 
and facilities, that no citizen can be in doubt where 
his children will gain most. In many communities 
there are those who fail to see this obvious truth, and 
wdio see in the reduced attendance upon the common 
schools, in consequence of the establishment of the 
parish schools, an opportunity to cut down school ex- 
penses. This is a time to spend, not a time to save ; 
and all intelligent men know that there are times 
when liberal expenditure is not only the higJwst 
economy, but the only economy. These persons are 
ignorantly falling into the net spread for their feet, 
from which they will extricate themselves with great 
difficulty hereafter. If they alone were to fall in 
the loss would be small ; but there is danger that com- 
munities may be dragged in with them, and that in- 
terests of the very highest irtiportance may be perma- 
nently sacrificed. 

The foes of our schools will strive in every district 
where they can command sufficient strength either 
to elect their own committees, and so control the 
schools, or to cut down the annual expenses, and so 
reduce their efficiency. There are two important and 
obvious duties which no man will neglect who cares 
for his country or his community ; namely, he will 
attend every school- meeting, and will oppose, in sea- 
son and out of season, every effort to reduce the 
efficiency of the schools by reducing the taxes. Let 
us clearly understand what this struggle means, and 
let every man choose between the common school and 
16 



242 EoMANisM vs. The Public School System. 

tlie parochial school. The men who neglect their 
duties, or who strive to cut down necessary school 
expenditures, are the enemies of our school system. 
If economy must be enforced let it be enforced at 

some other point. THE COMMUNITY WHOSE 

ECONOMICS ABE IMPOSED ON ITS 

CHILDREN IS A COMMUNITY WHICH 

HAS YET TO LEARN THE RUDIMENTS 

OE PUBLIC WELL-BEING. 



Educational Pbetensions of Rome. 24£ 



QUESTION IX. 

As to the Pretensions of Home as an 
JEducator, 

WHO is this Church of Rome, that comes to us 
with this demand? Who is this that ckims 
that our school system is godless and impious, unfit 
for the education of her children? Who is this that 
would rend asunder our public school system, the 
palladium of the American republic? Who is it 
that claims that God has given to her the exchisive 
function of educating the rising youth ? What has 
been her record in the work of education? What su- 
perior enlightenment has she imparted to the nations 
that have long been under her dominion ? What 
morals and piety has she taught them ? What type 
of civilization has she imparted ? What progress in 
the sciences, and in philosophy, and in social ameni- 
ties? How has she treated the profound original in- 
vestigators, like Galileo, who have pushed their 
inquiries beyond the old dusty beaten paths into 
new realms of thought and discovery ? Has Rome 
been the patroness of learning? And have the 
countries over which she has held sway been the 



244 lioMANiSM VS. The Public School System. 

best developed nations in education, morality and 
religion ? 

We only need to ask these questions in any intelli- 
gent presence. The answer is ready in every mind, 
a negative answer — the consensus of the average 
thought, outside of Romanism, every-where — and in- 
dorsed by many Roman Catholics themselves. That 
such a body, with such a record, should come before 
this great Protestant nation with such demands as 
she makes is not only an absurdity, but an affront. 
It is hardly necessary to turn on the light of history 
to make the absurdity of her claims appear more 
clearly than they already appear. 

And yet it is well to refresh our minds, that our 
convictions may be clear and strong. 

Let us look at — 

I. — The Historic Record of Rome in Respect to 
Education. 

Rome. has one thing in her favor. She is old, and 
has lived long enough to place herself unmistakably 
on record. Her record runs mostly through the 
period since the decay and destruction of ancient lit- 
erature. The facts of her history are largely in the 
hands of the world. 

We ask how it has been under an exclusive Roman 
Catholic regimen, continued for many centuries, as 



Educational Pketensions of Rome. 245 

in some nations? Has tlie Church of Rome been 
a conspicuous promoter either of secular education 
or of morals ? If her theory, that all education is 
tlie exclusive function of the Church, is true in prin- 
ciple; if it is productive of the best results, and 
develops the best communities ; then she presents 
strong claims to be permitted to work out her plan 
at almost any reasonable sacrifice. 

It must not be denied that the Church of Rome 
has always done educational work, but chiefly among 
limited classes of people. The education of the Mid- 
dle Ages was either that of the cloister or the castle, 
standing in sharp contrast to each other ; the object 
of the one, to form the young monk ; and of the 
other, the young knight. The illustrious monaster- 
ies — Monte Cassino, Fulda, and Tours — kept alive the 
torch of learning through the Dark Ages; but while 
their services should be acknowledged they should 
not be overrated. Their instruction was limited to a 
small class, was not of a very high or general char- 
acter, and was confined chiefly to ecclesiastical mat- 
ters. Beyond those a few rudiments were taught in 
a narrow circle. 

Under the renaissance and the .Reformation there 
was some advance and improvement. The fourteenth 
and fifteenth centuries witnessed the rise of universi- 
ties and academies in almost all of Europe. Still 



246 Romanism vs. The Public School System. 

this culture was only for a few, and, under the lead- 
ersliip of Rome, was never extended to the masses. 

Luther brought the scliool-raaster into the cottage 
and laid the foundation of the German system, by 
which the child of the humblest peasant may receive 
the best education the country affords. Other Prot- 
estant reformers followed this plan. The Protestant 
schools became the best in Europe, and the monkish 
institutions of Rome decayed. The Catholics would 
have remained behind in the race if it had not been 
for the Jesuits. 

The Jesuits. 

The sons of Loyola for a time made great improve- 
ment upon the old monkish methods. " They gave 
the best education," says the Britannica, " of their 
time, in order to acquire confidence ; but they became 
the chief obstacle to the improvement of education ; 
they did not care for enlightenment, but only for the 
influence they could derive from a supposed regard 
for enlightenment." After a while governments 
found it necessary to check and suppress their 
colleges. 

Their methods " degenerated into surveillance," 
" tracking the soul to its recesses, that they might 
slay it there and generate another in its place," a 
" tool subservient to their purposes." " They taught 



Educational Pretensions of Rome. 247 

the accomplisliments which the world loves, but their 
chief object was to amuse the mind and stifle in- 
quiry." " Whatever may have been the service of 
Jesuits in past times," says the Brltannica, " we have 
little to hope for from them, in the improvement of edu- 
cation, at present. Governments have, on the whole, 
acted wisely by checking and suppressing their col- 
leges. The ratio studiorum is antiquated, and difficult 
to reform. In 1831 it was brought more into ac- 
cordance with modern ideas by Roothaan, the general 
of the order, Beckx, iiis successor, has, if any thing, 
pursued a policy of retrogression. The Italian Gov- 
ernment, in taking possession of Rome, found the 
pupils of the Collegio Romano were far below the level 
of modern re€|uirements." 

The Masses Ignorant. 

In short, the story of Roman Catholic education in 
past centuries has been that very few outside of the 
nobility, the priesthood, and the religious orders have 
been educated ; that even their education has not 
been of the highest order ; that the bright, scholarly 
men of Romanism have been rare exceptions, even 
among her best-educated sons, and that the masses 
of the people have been left in ignorance. 

Dextor A. 11 iwkins, in The Christian Advocate y^ 

* Nuw York city, January 1, 1880. 



248 EoMxiNisM vs. The Public School System. 

Some years ago, wliile spending a winter in Rome, 
at the house of a cousin of the late Cardinal Anto- 
nelli, papal Secretary of State, I investigated, under 
a commission from one of our States, the condition 
of public education in Rome and the papal States, 
where the Romish Church had absolute control of all 
affairs, both spiritual and temporal. 

The public schools had accommodations for only a 
small portion of the children of school age. The in- 
struction was of the most meager character, consist- 
ing chiefly of the catechism, witli very little reading 
or writing, a smattering of the four simple rules of 
arithmetic, and little geograpliy beyond that of the 
papal States — a territory containing 3,000,000 of in- 
habitants, and about three times the size of the State 
of Connecticut. The mass of the people could neither 
read nor write. 

A primary school in a log school-house in the back 
settlements of our country, in its instruction, course 
of study, and proiiciency of its pupils, was far superior 
to the parochial schools even in the city of Rome. 

I described to Cardinal Antonelli the free public 
schools and the state of public education in Massa- 
chusetts, giving that as a model of the American s_ys- 
tem. His reply was that he " thought it better that 
the children siiould grow up in ignorance, than to be 
educated in such a system of schools as the State of 
Massachusetts supported ; that the essential part of 
the education of the people was the catechism; and 
while arithmetic and geography, reading, and writing, 
and other similar studies might be useful, they were 
not essential." 

His cousin, in speaking of the state of society in 
tlie Holy City, remarked that "its leading and most 
important institutions were a church, a monastery, a 
nunnery, and a foundling asylum." 



Educational Pretensions of Kome. 249 

The same eye-witness, after long official residence 
in Rome, said : * 

While visiting Ireland a few years ago I was grat- 
ified to see the island dotted over with national school- 
houses, neatly built of brick or stone by the British 
Government, in order to try to elevate the Irish race 
from the slough of ignorance, idleness, and bigotry 
into which centuries of priestly instruction had 
brought them: But while driving across the country 
one day 1 found standing by the roadside, near one 
of these school-houses, a Catholic priest with a switch 
in his hand, with which he scourged home tlie Cath- 
olic children as they approached tlie national school- 
house. On conversing with this priest, I found he 
appeared to sincerely believe he was doing God's 
work in preventing the children from attending the 
free public school. I did not suppose such a spectacle 
would ever be seen in our country. But I learn that 
a child in Massachusetts has within a few weeks been 
scourged upon his naked back by a Catholic priest for 
attending a free public school. 

The state of public education in the Catholic part 
of Ireland, when taken hold of by the English Gov- 
ernment a few years ago, was nearly as low as in the 
papal States when Victor Emmanuel took possession, 
turned the priests out of the schools, and, advised by 
the American Minister, began the establishment of a 
national system modeled after that of ISIew England. 

Under the parochial schools of the Romish Churcli 
both the Irish and the Italians had fallen in intelli- 
gence so far behind other races that they were be- 
coming mere " hewers of wood " and " drawers of 
water," and occupiers of the most menial positions 

* TJie Chnd'iaii Advocate, Januiiry 1, 1880. 



250 EoMANisM 'VS. The Public School System. 

for the nations that sustain a system of free public 
education abreast of the age. 

The Stoky of Italy', Spain, etc. 
What is the story * of Italy's ignorance ? Under 
the new Italian Government, in ISGO, there were 
opened 33 great model schools, since which time the 
condition has begun to improve ; but in 1864, out of 
a total population of 21,703,710 people, there were 
16,999,701, or about 80 per cent., who could neither 
read nor write. And yet Italy has 22 institutions 
called universities, 12 founded between 1119 and 
1443, having, in all of them, 12,580 students in 1878. 
These are chiefly fitting for priests and monks, the 
masses not being educated. Why, we will soon see. 
What is the educational condition of Spain? In 
1860, out of a total population of 16,301,851, 
11,800,000, or 70 per cent., could neither read nor 
write. Spain has 58 institutions which are called 
colleges, with 13,881 pupils, and a few institutions of 
a higher grade ; but the masses are left uneducated. 
Brazil, dominated by the papacy for centuries, 
presents a pitiable spectacle in respect to education. 
The Statesman's Year-Book says : " Notwithstanding 
the efforts of the Legislature, in recent years, for the 
spread of education, it is still in a very backward 
state, and the public schools were frequented, in 

* The Slatesmaii''s Year-Book, 1881. 



Educational Pketensions of Rome. 251 

18Y4, by only 140,000 pupils." But the population 
in 1872 was 9,448,233. The institutions in Italy and 
Spain called colleges are all of them, in quality and 
scope of education, very inferior to the colleges we 
are acquainted with in Protestant countries. 

In our day the Church of Rome reiterates her 
claim that the exclusive function of both secular and 
religious education is the divine right and duty of 
the Church. If it is, indeed, the divine right of the 
Church, as she has always claimed, is she willing to 
be tested by the results? Confessedly, the actual 
outcome from the working of any divinely-con- 
stituted system should be beneficent. What are the 
exhibits from the countries which for long centuries 
have been wholly Roman Catholic ? Do they present 
the highest morals and intelligence ? Surely, either 
the Church of Rome has not worked the system she 
has always claimed as her exclusive right, or, working 
it, the system has failed. Which horn of the dilemma 
will Rome accept? In either case her claim to this 
exclusive function has nothing to commend it. 

YiCTOE Hugo's Testimony. 

Victor Hugo knew the record of Rome well, and 
when the Roman Catholic ecclesiastics, not long ago, 
tried to get control of education in France he broke 
out in his characteristic apostrophes : 



252 Romanism vs. The Public School System. 

Ah, we know you ! We know the clerical party ; 
it is an old party. This it is which has found for the 
truth those two marvelous supporters, ignorance and 
error. This it is which forbids to science and genius 
the going beyond the Missal, and which wishes to 
cloister thought in dogmas. Every step which the 
intelligence of Europe has taken has been in spite of 
it. Its history is written in the history of human 
progress, but it is written on the back of the leaf. 
It is opposed to it all. 

For a long time the human conscience has revolted 
against you, and now demands of you, " What is it 
that you wish of me?" For a long time you have 
tried to put a gag upon the human intellect. You 
wish to be the masters of education, and there is not 
a poet, not an author, not a thinker, not a philosopher, 
that you accept. All that has been written, found, 
dreamed, deduced, inspired, imagined, invented by 
genius, the treasures of civilization, the venerable 
inheritance of generations, the common patrimony of 
knowledge, you reject. 

You claim the liberty of teaching. Stop ; be 
sincere ; let us understand the liberty you claim. 
It is the liberty of 7iot teaching. You wish us to 
give you the people to instruct. Yery well. Let us 
see your pupils. Let us see those you have produced. 
What have you done for Italy ? What have you done 
for Spain? For centuries you have kept in your 
hands, at your discretion, in your school, these two 
great nations, illustrious among the illustrious. What 
have you done for them? I shall tell you. 

Italy, which taught mankind to read, now knows not 
how to read. Yes ! Italy is, of all the States of 



Educational Peetensions of Eome. 253 

Europe, that where the smallest number know how to 
read. 

Spain, magnificently endowed Spain, which re- 
ceived from the Komans her first civilization ; from 
the Arabs her second civilization ; from Providence, 
in spite of you, a world — America — Spain, thanks to 
you, rests mider a yoke of stupor, which is a yoke of 
degradation and decay. Spain has lost the secret 
power it obtained from the Romans, the genius of 
art it had from the Arabs, the world (of America) it 
had from God ; and in exchange for all that you have 
made it lose, it has received from you the Inquisi- 
tion ; the Inquisition, which certain of your party try 
to-day to re-establish ; which has burned on the funeral 
pile millions of men ; the Inquisition, which disin- 
terred the dead to burn them as heretics; which 
declared the children of heretics infamous and in- 
capable of any public honors, excepting only those 
who shall have denounced their fathers. . . . 

This is what you have done for two great nations. 
"What do you wish to do for France ? Stop ! you have 
just come from Pome ! I congratulate you ; you have 
had fine success there ; you have come from gagging the 
Poman people, and now you wish to gag the French 
people. . . . Take care ! France is a lion, and is alive. 

After this master-piece of sarcasm by this great 
writer (if more is needed) look all over Mexico, 
Central America, and South America, after nearly 
four centuries of almost unlimited dominion, by the 
Poman Catholic Church, See the deepest, densest 
ignorance, the grossest morals, and the most un- 
pardonable loitering in the march of human prog- 
ress which can be found in any part of Christendom. 



254 EoMANisM vs. The Public School System. 

Rome does not come with the riglit kind of a 
record to justify American citizens in periHng their 
educational system at her behest. If the entire work 
of education is the exchisive riglit and function of the 
papal Church, under divine appointment, where was 
there ever such recreancy to a high trust as has been 
exhibited in the history of that Church ? Such is the 
Church which, under the pretentious claim of a 
divine right, now asks the most enlightened nation on 
earth to dismember and ruin her school system — the 
bulwark of her intelligence, liberty, and progress — 
and resign the rising youth into her ignorant and 
sacrilegious hands. 

Scientific Innovation Punished. 

Some one, perhaps, asks : " Has not Pome produced 
great men in every department of science?" I an- 
swer in the language of an ex-Pomanist : " Pome can 
show us a long list of names which shine among the 
brightest lights in the firmament of science and philos- 
ophy. She can show us her Copernicus, her Galileo, 
her Pascal, her Possuet, her Lamennais, etc., etc. Put 
it was at their risk and peril that these giants of in- 
telligence raised themselves into the highest regions 
of philosophy and science. It is in spite of Pome 
that those eagles soared up above the dark and ob- 
scure horizon where the pope offers his big toe to be 



Educational Peetensions of Eome. 255 

kissed and worsliiped as the ne j^lus ultra of human 
intelligence ; and thej have been punished for their 
boldness." 

We are familiar with the storj of Galileo, how he 
was treated. Tliat mighty intellect was bruised, fet- 
tered, degraded, and silenced. Do I need to cite Pas- 
cal, Lamenais, and others, excommunicated for ad- 
vanced ideas? What kind of a chance would Sir 
Isaac Newton and Benjamin Franklin, Stephenson, 
Fulton, Morse, and Ericsson, have had in the Roman 
Catholic Church, which stifles private judgment, con- 
science, and intelligence in the search of truth ? Be- 
sides, while Protestant nations are marching with such 
giant strides to the conquest of the w^orld, why is it 
that papal nations remain stationary or settle into de- 
cadence? Is it not because their religion stifles the 
noblest impulses of the human mind ? 

Such is the past record of Rome outside of the 
United States in respect to education. We see, how- 
ever, some indications of a somewhat different policy 
pursued by this Church in this country. Let us ex- 
amine and understand it. 

II. — Rome's Record in Respect to Education in 
the United States. 

The first Roman Catholic College in the United 
States was the Jesuit College founded at Georgetown, 



250 Romanism vs. The Public School System. 

D. C, in 1TS9. In 1830 tlie Romanists had four col- 
leges. In 1886 her record shows eightj-six colleges,* 
so-called — that is, they bear tliat designation. Many 
of them are in their infancy — foundations for colleges. 
As with other colleges, theirs must have a beginning, 
and it is often, with such institutions, small and feeble. 
Some never come to maturity. Probably not over 
sixty of them can be said to have approximated to 
tlie rank of colleges. Most of them include prepar- 
atory departments and even schools of lower grade, 
the students of all classes being reckoned in the total. 
Considering that the Romanists have been building 
so many churches all over the land this is a strong 
record. They had also in 1886 nineteen theological 
seminaries and nineteen female colleges, the latter in 
no case, however, deserving to be considered, even 
approximately, with Wellesley and Smith Colleges, 
either in number of students or quality of education. 
Besides these the Roman Church has academies, se- 
lect schools, and conventual schools. In the three 
liigher classes of institutions the students reported 
are : 

111 colleges , 14,007 f 

lu theological seminaries 1.214 

In female colleges H.('i45 

Total 18,866 

* See pp. 128, 129. 

t Comprising those in the prupnratory course. 



Educational Pretensions of Rome. 257 

It is due that we say these statistics sliow that 
Romanism has not been idle or sparing of efforts in 
educational lines in this country. 

When we look at these facts as they stand alone 
they seem extraordinary. But compare them with 
other denominations. Take the three highest classes 
of institutions : 

Institutes. students. 

Roman Catholics 124 18,866 

Methodist Episcopal Cliurch (Xorth) 144 26,491 

Methodist Episcopal Church, North aud South. . 217 31,337 

Baptist, North and South 125 16,420 

Lutherans 81 5,549 

Comparison. 
The Baptists have but one college older than the 
first Roman Catholic college at Georgetown, D. C, 
dating only twenty-two years further back than that 
institution ; namely, Brown University. The Luther- 
ans founded a theological seininaiy about the same time 
the Roman Catholics established their first college, 
and the first Methodist college dated forty one years 
after the first of the Roman Catholic, at a time when 
they had four colleges. Romanism had been in Amer- 
ica two hundred and seventy years before Methodism 
came ; had the first chance to the whole of North and 
South America, to the fertile fields and the rich mines 
of gold and silver. But now the J^orthern Methodist 
Church has twenty more higher institutions of learn- 
ing and eight thousand more students ; and the two 
17 



258 Romanism vs. The Public School System. 

leading Methodist Chnrchos, North and South, have 
ninety-three more institutions and forty thousand 
more students than the papal Church. And, more- 
over, Methodism lias not ti'ansferred eight or ten mill- 
ions of people from the Old World to help build her 
up here ; nor has she obtained, as Romanists have 
done, large sums of money from Europe and Mexico 
to aid her in her work. Methodism has been re-en- 
forced by few accessions from abroad, but has gone 
forth into the highways, the hedges, the frontiers, and 
gathered her people by moral and spiritual trans- 
formations. 

Relatively, then, considering her large educational 
pretensions, her opportunities, and her foreign help, 
the Roujan Catholic Church has nothing to boast of 
in the line of education. 

So much for the numerical exhibit of the educa- 
tional institutions of Romanism in the United States. 

It is important next to consider : 

III. — The Quality of the Education Afforded by 
the Roman Catholic Church. 

While we talk of the more advanced educational 
institutions of the Roman Catholic Church, we must 
not overlook the fact tliat the instruction imparted in 
them is inferior to that of other American colleges 
and seminaries of the Sivme reputed rank. Only in one 



Educational Pretensions of Eome. 259 

study do Roman Catholic college's exceed iion-Catiiolic 
colleges — the Latin. As to logic, they seem to devote 
more attention to that than non-Catholic colleges ; but 
it is the old logic of the school-men, its tricks, etc., 
and not the broader views of later and better treatises. 
As to Greek, many non-Catholic colleges we are ac- 
quainted with require more Greek, in order to admis- 
sion to their lowest classes, than most Catholic colleges 
give their students in their whole college course. In 
only a few of them does the Greek course equal that 
in Protestant colleges. Catholic colleges do little in 
the department of the natural sciences. An atmos- 
phere of mediaeval sentiment pervades their institu- 
tions, and the catechism receives more prominence in 
their curriculum than any thing else except Latin. 

It must be confessed that it is impossible to speak 
on this question with all the deiiniteness that may be 
desired in regard to some of the practical details ; but 
the main features are clear and convincing. 

Taking, first of all, the colleges and universities, 
the question which arises is. How does the curriculum 
of studies in the best Catholic colleges compare with 
that of the best non-Catholic colleges? We are 
aware that this, of itself alone, cannot fully decide 
the quality of the education given ; but it is an im- 
portant part of the question, showing the scope and 
breadth of the field traversed. It is generally under- 



260 Romanism vs. The Public School System. 

stood that the Jesuit colleges maintain the highest 
rank for scholarship of any of the Roman Catholic 
colleges. I have lying before me the latest catalogues 
of eighteen Roman Catholic colleges, among which are 
those of five Jesuit colleges; namely, the Georgetown 
College, D. C, founded in 1789, and chartered as a 
university in 1815 ; the St. John's College, Fordham, 
N. Y. ; the St. Francis Xavier's College, Cincinnati, 
0., founded in 1831 ; the College of the Holy Cross, 
Worcester, Mass., founded in 1843 ; and the Boston 
College, 761 Harrison Avenue, Boston, founded in 
1863. In these institutions, following the method 
of other Roman Catholic colleges, a seven years' 
course of study is prescribed, the last four years cor- 
responding to the usual classical collegiate course, in 
iion-Catholic colleges, for the degree of A. B. These 
five Jesuit colleges do not vary much in their courses 
of study. The following is an abbreviated state- 
ment of the collegiate course of study in the St. 
John's College at Fordham, New York : 

LATIN. 

1st year: Syntax reviewed. Idioms. Prosod\\ Exercises in 
Prose and Verse. Sallust. Virgil. Cicero in 
Catilinam. 

'2,(1 year : Principles of Latin Style; Prose and Verse Compo- 
sition. Livy. Horace. Virgil. Cicero. 

Sdyear: Cicero's Orations — De Oratore, Ad Brutum. Horace. 
Juvenal. Persius. Tacitus. Prose and Verse 
Composition. 

4:t?i year : No Latin. 



Educational Pretensions of Rome. 2G1 

GKEEK. 

1st year: Grammar (completed). Prosody. Xenophon's Cy- 
ropedia. Herodotus. Homer's Odyssey. 

%dyear: Principles of Greek Style; Prose and Verse Compo- 
sition. Plato's A-pologia. Demostlienes's Olyn- 
tliiacs. Homer's Iliad. Sopliocles's OEdipiis Rex. 

M year : Demosthenes. Thucydides. Sophocles. Pindar. 
Longinus. ^schylus. Prose and Verse Com- 
position. 

4^A year : No Greek. 

MATHEMATICS. 

1st year : Algebra and Geometry. 

3i year : Trigonometry. Surveying. Analytical Geometry. 

%d year : Calculus. 

A.t1i year : Dana's Mechanics. Astronomy. 



1st year : Ancient. 
%d year : Modern. 
3^ year : Modern. 

ENGLISH. 

1st year : Prosody. Composition. 

2<i year : Du Cygne's Precepts of Literature. Lectures on Style 
and Poetry. Analysis of selections from the best 
authors. Critical Study of Shakespeare's Macbeth. 
Epistolary, Descriptive, and Narrative Composi- 
tion. Essays, Poems, etc. Jenkins's History of 
English Literature. 

Zd year : Du Cygne's Principles of Rhetoric. Lectures on the 
Principles of Rhetoric, the Construction of a Dis- 
eoui'se, etc. Critical Study of the best speeches 
in Goodrich's "British Eloquence" and of Shake- 
speare's " Julius Caesar." The utmost attention is 
given to English composition. Debates are held 
every week. 

Atli year : No English exercises. 

ELOCUTION. 

l&t year : One hour a week. 
2d year: " " " 

Zdyear: " " " 

Uhyear: " " " 



2v''2 EoMANiSM VS. The Public School System. 

KATURAL SCIENCES. 

Id year : Nothing. 

1(1 1/ear : Avery's Chemistry. 

'6(1 year : Avery's Chemistry. 

4itlL year : Olmstead's Natural Philosophy. 

In addition to tlie foregoii)g, in the fourth year the 
following philosophical studies are pursued : " Jouin's 
logic, metaphysics, and ethics. First term : Logic 
and ontology. Second Term : Cosmology, psychol- 
ogy, and theodicy ; the general principles of ethics 
and of civil society. The lectures are given in 
Latin. The students are required to speak Latin and 
defend their theses every week in tliat language. 
Such defense is often public before the faculty." 

RELIGIOUS INSTRUCTION. 

Ist year: De Harbe's Catechism. 

2d year : " " 

3tZ year : Lectures ou the Evidences of Religion. 

Ath year : " " " " 

An examination of the foregoing curriculum will 
show the character and extent of the culture contem- 
plated in tlie Jesuit institutions, except their univer- 
sities, which have law, medical, and other depart- 
ments. Its inferiority to the courses of study in other 
American colleges will be readily seen. 

1. The standard of admission is inferior. Harvard, 
Boston, and Weslej^an Universities, Amherst and 
Dartmouth Colleges, and others of like rank, do not 
differ much in their requirements for admission. Six 



Educational Pketensions of Eome. 263 

books in Virgil's ^neid, with the Eclogues, four 
books of Caesar, five orations in Cicero, and in some 
a portion of Sallust and Ovid, besides Arnold's Latin 
Prose Composition, are required, in Latin ; four bot)ks 
of Xenophon's Anabasis, three books of Homer's 
Iliad, the Greek Reader, and, in some of them, one 
book in Herodotus, are required, in Greek ; in alge- 
bra, through quadratic equations in all, and in some 
of ihem the whole of Greenleaf's, Loomis's, or Olney's 
larger books, and plane geometry. But in the fore- 
gx>ing Catholic curriculum we find Sallust, Yirgil, and 
Cicero in the studies of the freshman and sophomore 
years. The list of preparatory studies, in some eJesuit 
colleges, makes no mention of algebra or geometry. 
Four Jesuit Colleges — Georgetown, D. C , St. Francis 
Xavier's, Cincinnati, Boston College, and the College 
of the Holy Cross — include algebra, but not geom- 
etry ; while St. John's, at Fordliam, N. Y., omits 
geometry until after the collegiate course is com- 
menced. In some colleges the Greek Reader is the 
only preparatory Greek read. 

2. The courses of study are not as broad as in the 
non-Catholic colleges. Les^ attention is devoted to 
natural sciences, mental and moral philosophy, politi- 
cal economy, etc., and the elective system of studies 
has been only sparingly adopted. Nor do they fur- 
nish as ample or as valuable facilities for pursuing 



2G4: EoMANisM vs. The Public School System. 

such inquiries. With the larger departments of mod- 
ern investigation tlie Clmrcli of Rome has had little 
s^'mpathy, preferring to confine herself to an old 
routine. 

3. Most Roman Catholic institutions devote little at- 
tention to the Greek, and more to the Latin language 
than the non-Catholic colleges. The study of Latin 
in Catholic colleges generally continues through four 
years, while Greek seldom occupies more than two 
years. In some of them the students are required 
to converse and to conduct extemporaneous discus- 
sions in the Latin language. JS^o such exclusive promi- 
nence is given to any single language by the non- 
Catholic colleges; but it is believed that the drill in 
translation and construction is not less thoi'ough, 
wliile the knowledge of the Greek gained hy the 
graduates is far superior to that imparted by the 
Catholic institutions. 

Thus far the Jesuit colleges. Other Roman Cath- 
olic colleges are considerably inferior to these. In 
the Augustinian College at Villanova, Pa., the 
studies of the freshman year ai"e English grammar, 
parsing in Pope's " Essay on Man," arithmetic, and 
algebra commenced. In Latin, Sallust and Virgil's 
Bucolics ; and, in Greek, the grammar and the Gospel 
of St. John. Csesar is the only Latin autlior read 
before admission to college ; and in Greek onlv the 



Educational Pretensions of Rome. 2C5 

first and second parts of Arnold's exercises. Latin, 
Greek, and mathematics extend through the four 
years of the college course. Natural philosophy is 
studied only in the sophomore year, and the only 
other natural science specified is chemistry, in the 
junior and senior years. Logic is a study in the 
fourth year. Besides these, rhetorical, historical, 
and religious studies are continued through the en- 
tire course. 

In St. Yincent's (Benedictine) College, in West- 
moreland County, Pa., only the Latin Grammar is re- 
quired in Latin, and no Greek or algebra, prior to 
admission to the college course. 

Arithmetic and English grammar are studies of 
the first and second year in some of these lower 
grade colleges. In many of them, biology, zoology, 
geology, mineralogy, astronomy, and political econ- 
omy are wholly omitted. Aside from the Latin 
language tlie quality of the drill in these institutions 
is not very well known. The instruction in the nat- 
ural sciences in almost all Catholic colleges is meager 
and imperfect, though they are advancing somew^hat. 
The moral and mental philosophy is that of the papal 
scholastics of the olden times, based upon peculiar 
dogmas of Rome. The subtleties and sophistries of 
logic receive particular attention. 

Among the Catholic colleges of highest rank may 



266 Romanism vs. The Public School System. 

be inentioued tlie Uiiiversitj of Notre l);unc, at 
Notre Dame, Indiana, magnificently provided witli 
buildings and grounds, and Saint Francis College, 
Baltic Street, Brooklyn, N. Y., the latter under the 
Franciscans (O. S. F.), and the former under the 
Congregation of the Holy Cross (C. S. C). Others 
of these so-called '• colleges" are inferior to the best 
Protestant academies and high schools. The dis- 
cipline in the Catholic colleges is severe, rigid, and 
peculiarly exclusive, having supreme refei-ence to the 
promotion of the Catholic taith. In all of these in- 
stitutions which have boarding departments no stu- 
dent is permitted to leave the grounds without per- 
mission. No books, other than text-books and works 
of reference recommended by the professors, may be 
held by the students, unless by permission of the 
president. Students are not allowed to receive news- 
papers except from the reading-room, which is under 
the direction of the president. Letters received and 
sent away are subject to the supervision of the college 
authorities. No private pocket-money is allowed, 
but must be deposited with the treasurer. 

An Interior Inspection. 
A recent writer in the Christian Union * gives 
an interesting interior view of a Catholic College. 

*June 14, 1S88. 



Educational Pretensions of Rome. 267 

It does not need to be said that the Catholics do not 
believe in co-education. Even in the lower schools 
the sexes are kept carefully apart, though putting 
them together would generally enable the parish to 
have graded schools, giving to each recitation just 
double the time without making the classes any too 
large. But this educational gain would be at the sacri- 
fice of a principle of most vital importance. The 
Sacred Congregation de Propaganda Fide, in its letter 
to the bishops of the United States in 1875, assigned 
two fundamental reasons for its condemnation of our 
Public School System : 

"1. The system excludes all teaching of religion. 

" 2. Certain corruption likewise ensues from the fact that 
in the same schools, or in many of them, youths of both sexes 
are congregated in the same room for the recitation of lessons, 
and males and females are ordered to sit on the same bench 
{in eodem scamno) ; all which have the effect of lamentably 
exposing the young to loss in faith and endangering of 
morals." 

Such being the dangers involved in teaching the 
little tots of both sexes together, the Church of course 
avoids the greater scandal of educating young men 
and women in the same building {in eodem domo). 

In order to get some impression as to what the 
Catiiolic colleges for men were like, I visited one 
morning that of St. Francis Xavier, on Sixteenth 
Street. This college, by the way, is but one of four 
which the Catholics maintain in this city. The build- 
ing is a costly and imposing one. On being presented 
to the president, a large man with an imperious 
bearing — a typical prelate — I stated the name of the 
paper which I represented, and my desire to visit 
some of the recitations, in case such visits were per- 
mitted. " What are your qualifications for the task 'I " 
was the somewhat overwhelming question immediately 



208 EoMANisM vs. The Public School System. 

pat to me. When I recovered my mental equilibrium 
I spoke of my university degree — the lirst time I had 
ever had occasion to make use of it. This seemed 
satisfactory, and the prelate himself conducted me 
through the college. 

Tlie first recitation we entered I found that my 
degree was not so all-sufficient as I had supposed. 
Though the subject was rhetoric the recitation was 
entirely in Latin. As I had only spent seven years 
upon this branch, and in tiiat time, like most college 
boys, had only managed to stammer through seven or 
eight hundred pages of Latin literature, I had to con- 
fess that I knew practically nothing about it. The 
president was not at all displeased at this, and took a 
great deal of pride in the Latinity of the class. Mean- 
while I borrowed a text-book and followed the recita- 
tion as best I could. I found that the young men 
were quite familiar with the book, but did not dis- 
cover any particular readiness in the expression of 
ideas of their own. In case there is mental discipline 
in cramming the memory with words which the stu- 
dent does not care to remember after the period of 
recitations, then this drill in rhetoric was valuable. 
This question, however, the reader has probably set- 
tled for himself, and upon its stettlement must depend 
his estimate of the educational value of a Catholic 
college. 

After leaving the recitation in rhetoric the presi- 
dent asked me if I would not like to attend one in 
philosophy, and I gladly assented. We found the 
class discussing Hume's famous argument against 
miracles. Again I borrowed a text-book and man- 
aged to catch the drift of the discussion. Meanwhile 
the president talked with me of the advantages of 
using Latin instead of English in the study of these 
bi-anches. It cultivated, he said, clearness in think- 



Educational Peetfnsions of Eome. 269 

ing and conciseness of expression, since the English 
language was no such medium for philosophical 
thought as the Latin. To all this I hstened politely, 
thinking of the days when Latin was considered a 
better medium for the expression of every kind of 
thought. The president himself was remarkably famil- 
iar with Latin, and there was no doubt as to his sincerity 
in regarding it as a superior medium of instruction. 
Very soon, however, his opinions received a curious 
comment. The professor suddenly changed the reci- 
tation from Latin into English. The president ex- 
pressed his surprise at this, and the professor explained 
that when he had gone over the lesson once in Latin, 
he found it well to review it in English, " in order 
to make sure that the class thoroughly understood 
what they had been reciting." 

I did not ask to be conducted into any more reci- 
tations. I had formed a much more definite impres- 
sion of the teaching than I had expected in so short a 
time. Unfortunately, it was not an iuipression which 
I can expect others to accept, since my own expe- 
rience in college and out of college had rendered me a 
prejudiced witness. To those who have admitted 
that students should either learn twice as much Latin 
in our American colleges or none at all, and have pre- 
ferred the former alternative, the course at St. Xav- 
ier's will commend itself. The students were twice 
as familiar with Latin as I had ever been, and the in- 
numerable difficulties of that language did not retard 
them one half as much in their study of rhetoric and 
philosophy, as they had retarded me in the study of 
classic literature and history. xTevertheless, there 
was a gross sacrifice of the knowledge of rhetoric and 
the knowledge of philosophy, to the knowledge of 
facts about a dead language which could throw no 
light upon any subject in which men of to-day are 



270 Romanism vs. The Pl-I3l:c School System. 

interested. The Catholic Church, in its reh'g-ious in- 
struction of the connnon people, held on to tlie Latin 
language long after it had ceased to be the language 
of the common people ; and in its intellectual instruc- 
tion of students it has held on to the same language 
long after it has ceased to be the language of 
students. The teaching was adapted to a time when 
all literature worth reading was in Latin. That time 
passed away several centuries ago. 

After visiting the recitations I had a talk with the 
president respecting various points of interest relat- 
ing to the scope of the instruction. There was one 
point which impressed me favorably, not because it 
was a new idea, but because it was a good idea which 
seemed to have been well carried out. Attention was 
given to the gentlemanliness- — I might almost say 
courtliness — of the manners of the students. This, too, 
maybe survival from the time when the clergy of the 
State Church were cultured courtiers, allied to the 
aristocracy and out of sympathy with the people. 
But, whatever its origin, there is no doubt as to its 
value. 

Only one other point is worthy of mention, and this 
is merely of a piece with the other mediae valism of 
the curriculum. In St. Xavier's College there is no 
regular professor of science. In one of the Catholic 
colleges of this city (St. John's, Fordham), there are 
four, but usually the curriculum is marked by the 
comparative absence of such instruction. There was 
also no professorship of history and political economy. 
In short, the spirit of the old cloisters still prevailed. 
It was intellectual life apai't from the world, not intel- 
lectual life in the world and for the world. The stu- 
dents were separated as far as possible from the cur- 
rents of thought of to-day. 



Educational Pretensions of Rome. 271 

The Highee Education of Catholic Women. 

The Roman Catholic academies, select scliools, and 
colleges for females, have been supposed by many 
American parents, particularly in wealthy and aris- 
tocratic circles, to afford advantages for education 
superior to our non-Catholic schools of like grade ; 
and many daughters have been sent tliither for in- 
struction. Academic departments connected with 
convents have also been patronized for such supposed 
advantages, and daughters of Protestant parents have 
thus been lured into the Roman Catholic Church, 
Close inquiry in regard to the education imparted in 
these institutions leads to the conclusion that instruc- 
tion in the line arts, in the languages, and in the sciences 
is far inferior in all elements of true culture to that 
imparted by the n on -Catholic schools. They pander 
to the vanity of wealthy and aristocratic patrons, and 
aim to make tlieir daughters showy rather than truly 
cultivated. The whole system is superficial in its 
plan and execution. Those who come forth well edu- 
cated become such not by any superior advantages 
furnished by Roman Catholic schools, but by reason 
of natural ability or personal application. 

The same writer just quoted in the Christian 
Union, and in the same article, gives an interior 
view of this department of education : 



272 RoMANisii vs. The Public School System, 

For the higher education of Catholic women I vis- 
ited the Academy of the Sacred Heart on Seven- 
teenth Street. This is one of the two CathoHc 
scliools for women which are given in the City Di- 
rectory under the head of colleges. I was graciously 
received by the Lady Superior, who assured me that 
she would take })leasure in conducting me through 
her school. Tliis slie did, talking all the wliile with 
a pleasino; enthusiasm about different features of 
the Academy, telling me the history of the educa- 
tional sisterhood to which she belonged, explaining 
the character of the instruction which it aimed to give, 
and, above all, telhng of the devotion of the schol- 
ars, narrating little incidents showing how deep it 
was, and how it lasted until after the children had 
grown into womanhood. I cannot tell all this as it 
was told me, but must content myself with summing 
it up in as few words as possible. 

In the first place, this Academy of the Sacred 
Heart is not a college at all, nor even a high school. 
In its curriculum some of the higher brandies, such 
as geometry and philosophy, do indeed appear, but the 
classes in them are extremely small, there being only 
one in the class in geometry. The aim of the school 
is not so much education as " finish." The Order of 
the Sacred Heart is French in its origin and its con- 
trol. The system of education is not very different 
from that in France under the ancient regime. 
Then, as we know, the series studies were avowedly 
given less importance than the accomplishments. 
Two hours would be devoted to writing, geograpliy, 
history, and arithmetic, and four to catechism, draw- 
ing, dancing, and music. A thorough grasp of the 
principles of one of the higher branches would have 
jarred with this notion of what was becoming to a 
tine lady. In the place of these she was trained in 



Educational Pketensions of E,ome. 273 

the art of entering a room, of courtesying, of manag- 
ing her train, and all the little niceties of speech, 
manner, and address which went to make up a grand 
lady. It was of this ancient schooling that the conrse 
of instruction at the Academy of the Sacred Heart 
reminded me, though these characteristics were not 
so strongly accentuated. The superioress assured me 
that only a few minutes each day were devoted to 
religions exercises, and that Protestant and Jewish (!) 
pupils were not obliged to study the catechism and 
church history. 

I was taken every-where — into the beautiful little 
chapel, into the play-rooms, the music-room, the reci- 
tation-rooms. But I heard no recitations. The supe- 
rioress told me that visitors were never invited to 
these, and that if they should be the girls would be 
so embarrassed that they could not do themselves 
justice. I was, however, taken into a play-room where 
nearly thirty of the little girls were singing in concert 
French songs as they went through different figures. 
The exercise corresponded to the marching in college 
gymnastics, but was infinitely prettier and more pleas- 
ing. The superioress told me that there .were no 
classes in dancing ; but these games employed many 
of the steps and cultivated quite as much grace of 
movement. The sister in charge was a bright, sweet- 
faced young French woman, and it was perhaps her 
spirit which made the young girls enjoy the games so 
thoroughly. 

The girls of the school ranged apparently from five 
to seventeen. This fact emphasized the comparative 
absence of any higher education. The course for the 
older pupils did not compare with that in a I^ew 
England or western high school, and not a great 
many of the pupils were of the high school age. 
This fact, however, is not so significant in New York 
18 



27J: Romanism vs. The Public School System. 

city as it would be in tlie educationally more pro- 
gressive sections of the country, for in New York, 
excepting one large normal school and one city col- 
lege, there are no public high scliools, though there 
are, of course, numerous private schools which give a 
corresponding education to the daughters of the rich. 

There was one thing which })leased me in the 
appearance of the girls. Though they were all the 
children of wealthy jiarents (the tuition being one hun- 
dred dollars a year, with instrumental music sixty dol- 
lars extra, vocal music eighty dollars, drawing sixty 
dollars, etc.) nevertheless they were all dressed in a 
simple though pretty blue uniform. The superioress 
said that they had just introduced it this year, and 
had found, somewhat to their surprise, that the girls 
and their parents gladly adopted it. It put an end to 
vulgar competition in dress. Some of the girls wore 
blue ribbons and some red. The superioress explained 
that (like the old French convent schools again) they 
M^ere divided into two parties, and that the contest 
between them was respecting mistakes in French. 
Even at recess-time the girls were expected to speak 
French, and if a " blue" heard a " red " make a mis- 
take she immediately demanded her ribbon. Those 
who did not lose their ribbons at all in a given time 
— I forget how long — were awarded prizes. 

But the supreme aim, the avowed aim, of the entire 
course of instruction was neither education nor finish, 
but the winning of the girls to the love of the Church. 
The sisters in charge w^ere line types of womanhood, 
and the spirit of the school was cliarming. The lady 
superior told me, and I believed it, that the girls often 
came to them with their troubles, and sometimes came 
in tears merely because a sister had seemed severe, 
when the sister herself had no recollection of it. 
Every little while the superioress would herself have 



Educational Pketejstsions of Rome. 2Y5 

a talk with each of the girls alone, and at these times 
she, too, gained their friendship. Defective, there- 
fore, as I found the intellectual education — the train- 
ing to think and to know — there was nevertheless 
something about the instruction which might well be 
imitated in our public schools. It cannot, howevei", 
be imitated while people tolerate that teacherships 
shall be in any respect the patronage of school boards. 
It cannot even be insured when competitive examina- 
tions are made the test of fitness. It can only be se- 
cured when school boards and superintendents have 
the same loyalty to the municipal corporations that 
the Catholic clergy have to their ecclesiastical cor- 
porations, and through their loyalty select teach- 
ers according to merit, taking into account some- 
thing else besides intellectual qualifications. The 
real education of girls includes sweeter manners and 
purer tastes, and these come only from personal con- 
tact with fine women. If the public schools are to 
have all the good qualities of the finest of Catholic 
schools, then Protestant young women of cultivation 
and refinement must give up the immoral idea that 
their position exempts them from the obligation to 
earn their own living by service, and must remember 
that the greater their advantages the greater their 
obligations toward those who are without them. 



Paeochial Schools. 

The parochial schools of Romanism are the lowest 
class of their educational institutions, and, as might 
be expected, the condition, previous advantages, and 
social surroundings of the mass of the pupils are, for 
the most part, of a very low grade. The character of 



270 Romanism vs. The Public School System. 

the educational drill, as observed bj visitors, lias been 
pronounced to be of an inferior quality, the course of 
study meager and very imperfect, and the discipline 
harsh. Exceptions there doubtless are, in schools and 
in pupils, some of which have been highly com- 
mended. The educational institutions of Romanism 
are feeling the stimulating influence of the higher 
attainments of Protestant institutions, and are doubt- 
less in course of improvement. But their histories, 
geographies, reading- books, and other text-books, 
afford evidence of Roman Catholic manipulation. 
Papal ideas, dogmas, and versions of history are infil- 
trated through them. Catholic saints, holy days, in- 
stitutions, and the mediaeval ages are glorified. The 
minds of pnpils are thus turned backward rather than 
forward, belittled rather than enlarged, and fiicts of 
history long and well-established are presented in a 
distorted light and often wholly omitted. Pupils in 
these institutions are thus educated out of joint with 
their times and in conflict with the facts of universal 
history. 

Religious Instruction. 

Roman Catholic tenets form a part of the daily in- 
struction in all their educational institutions of every 
class. No distinction is made on the ground of relig- 
ious belief, but all are required to be present at the 



Educational Pretensions of Rome. 277 

public exercises of religion. The Catliolic catechism 
and lectures on the Catholic religion are specified 
each year in the collegiate courses of study, and are 
also found in all their schools of every grade. Out 
of eighteen catalogues of Roman Catholic colleges in 
my hands only one or two contain any thing like 
the following. " Students who are not Catholics will 
not be required to participate in any distinctively 
Catholic exercise, nor will any undue influence be ex- 
erted to induce a change of belief." Some other cat- 
alogues say : " The exercises of religious worship are 
Catholic, and every student, no matter of what de- 
nomination he may be, will be required, for the sake 
of order and uniformity, to attend them." This is 
the usual practice in all Catholic institutions. The 
religious education — by^ catechism, lectures, prayers, 
and other processes distinctively Catholic — is con- 
nected with secular training. Tlie catalogue of the 
Georgetown College says : " No distinction is made 
in the reception of students on the ground of religious 
belief, but all the boarders are required to be present 
at the public exercises of religion." " Catholics are 
instructed in their religion by means of the catechism, 
which forms one of the regular recitations, and 
weekly catechetical lectures, which are attended by 
all." The catalogue of Seton Hall College says: 
" All students are required to assist at mass twice a 



2TS Romanism vs. The Public School System. 

week, and Catholics to go to confession and commun- 
ion montlily, unless their spiritual director should 
otherwise direct them." Mass is observed regularly 
in all these colleges. 

Roman Catholic Text-books, 

as seen by an eminent critic/^ are at least very pecul- 
iar and defective. He says : 

Here is a Catholic school-book used in high schools 
and sometimes in colleges, a modern history by Peter 
Fredet, Professor of History in St. Mary's College, 
Baltiuiore. I turn to the appendix of it and come 
upon a most amazing series of notes. Here are dis- 
sertations pouring copious, loathsome, mucilaginous, 
but not adhesive, whitewash on the massacre of St. 
Bartholomew and on the Inquisition. Here are 
apologies for the greatest atrocities Rome has com- 
mitted. We are told here deliberately that Romish 
priests had nothing to do with the death of most of 
those who suffered in the Inquisition ; that at the 
moment of execution the priests appeared at the side 
of the man only to inspire him, if possible, with 
sentiments of repentance ; that all the priestly council 
did was to pronounce the individual guilty and de- 
liver him over to the secular authorities. We are 
told here in a foot-note that John Huss was placed 
under the custody of the magistrates of Constance, 
who, following the jurisprudence of the age with re- 
gard to such transgressors, consigned him to the 
flames. You think that I exaggerate, but here I 
read, when the Spaniards are reproached for the rig- 

* Rev. Joseph Cook. 



Educational Pjbetensions of Rome. 279 

ors of the Inquisition, their answer is that by punish- 
ing a few obstinate individuals they saved their mon- 
arclijfrom the civil wars which desolated Germany, 
Switzerland, and Holland, and did not, after all, cause 
so ranch blood to flow as the Calvinistic reformation 
did. That is what is stuifed down the throats of the 
brightest Catholic youth in this country. 

He says Bismarck was justified in his horror, when 
he said that the saddest sight in France was the ma- 
nipulation of the historical text-books by Eomish ec- 
clesiastics. 

Here is a Fifth Reader, which I bought lately at the 
Romish bookstore in this city, and it is full of por- 
traits of Romish archbishops, and the contents have 
been carefully selected to give sectarian impressions. 
I open this Sixth Reader and I find it also full of foot- 
notes and of selections such as indicate the sectarian 
bias of the whole work. There is Michael Angelo 
making a picture before one pope, and here I turn 
to some of the foot-notes and I read a little biogra- 
phy of the Most Rev. John Hughes. It is in un- 
guarded places that the jDurpose of the Roman jDriest- 
hood comes out, and the last sentence in this short 
notice of the archbishop reads : " Both by speech and 
pen he labored untiringly to secure that Catholic 
training for Catholic children on which the future of 
the Church must, humanly speaking, depend, and his 
labors are still bearing most abundant fruit." I turn 
on here to a little notice of Mrs. Jameson, and the 
statement I find of most importance is the following : 
" Though not a Catholic, Mrs. Jameson pays graceful 
homage to that faith which has been the basis of all 
that is true and noble in art since the beginning of 
the Christian era." Just so, indeed. And I ask your 
attention to the following important statement : 
" Orestes Augustus Bronson, the most original and 



280 Romanism vs. The Public School System. 

philosopliical thinker that America has yet produced." 
Now wliat if I were to call up the scholars out of the 
two or three thousand parochial schools in the United 
States and ask them to recite? Why, what they 
would give ns in answer to our questions would be 
these text-books — these precious statements about the 
Catholic authorities, and these whitewashed pages 
concerning the Inquisition, the edict of Nantes, and 
the massacre of St. Bartholomew ; these subtle insin- 
uations of Catholic doctrine concerning mariolatry 
and the infallibiHty of the pope, and these presenta- 
tions of American history in such a manner as to 
make the impression that the Jesuits were the fathers 
of the best part of our civilization here. This is what 
we should hear from these young lips. 

Another eminent critical authority * says concern- 
ing An Ahridged History of tlie United States, by 
John R. G. Ilassard, LL.D., with an introduction by 
Rt, Rev. J. L. Spalding, D.D., Bishop of Peoria: 

This volume belongs in " The Young Catholic's 
School Series." It is written with the definite pur- 
pose, avowed by Bishop Spalding in the Introduction, 
of giving a Roman Catholic interpretation of the Uni- 
ted States history. Without charging on the manual 
any violent perversion of facts it is enough to say that 
this end is very adroitly carried out in the book. 
Catholic agencies are magnitied, frank criticism is 
employed where it counts for little, matters of greater 
importance are passed over in silence, the edge and 
nobleness of the Protestant history are blunted, and 
the point is pretty effectively made to stand out every- 
where that what the country needs for the perfection 

* The Indi'penderd. 



Educational Peetensions of Eome. 281 

of citizenship is Koman Catholicism, and that the best 
that is in it has come from this source. 

Strange are the omissions and misleadings of the 
Catholic text-books. One of them, in its preface, 
complains that " The manuals of geography hitherto 
used, in our schools • are not only objectionable on 
account of their misstatements, but are still more 
objectionable and defective on account of what they 
suppress or fail to state." 

It is interesting (says Mr. Edwin D. Mead) * to 
go through these books and observe what they "fail 
to state," and then observe some of the things to 
which they are able to give so much space. There 
is room to state that Ireland " is noted," among many 
other things, " for the unwavering fidelity of its peo- 
ple to the Catholic faith ; " but there is not room to 
state that the JSTetherlands are noted for any thing 
besides their "low situation, numerous canals and 
windmills." There is room to speak of "many 
Catholics " exiled to Siberia, but of nobody else ; to 
note that the States of the Church are " at present 
usurped" by the King of Italy, but to say almost 
nothing else about the whole histor}'' of Italy. A 
primarj^ object every- where is to make these books for 
school children serve the purposes of theological and 
sectarian controversy. 

How about America ? Here is Sadlier's smaller 
geography f — a very popular book in the parochial 

* Address on The Roman Catlwlic Church arid the School Question. 
Boston: George H. Ellis. 1888, pp. 37, etc. 

t Sadlier''s Excelsior Introduction to Geografphy. Designed for Junior 
Classes. By a Catholic Teacher. New York : William H. Sadlier. See 
also 0'' Shea's Coimpreheiisive Geographies. New York : T. O'Sliea. 



282 Romanism vs. The Public School System. 

schools, and, like the other books in tlie series, a 
beautiful book. It contains proljably all the history of 
the United States that some of the younger and poorer 
children, who leave school early, ever get. If they do 
get more I could quickly show you that they are quite 
likely to get what is worse. Let me read to you the 
section devoted to the history of the United States 
(Lesson XX XIII, p. 22) : 

What can you say of the United States? — It is the most p"p- 
ulous and powerful country in Ameiica. 

By whom was this country originally inhabited?— By the In- 
dians. 

By whom were the Indians dispossessed of their lands? — By 
the Spanish, English, and French colonists. 

Who were the first explorers of great portions of our coun- 
try? — Catholic missionaries. 

Who discovered and exi)lored the upper Mississijjpi? — Father 
Marquette, a Jesuit missionary. 

Where, in many of the States, were the first settlements 
formed? — Around the humble cross that marked the site of a 
Catholic mission. 

What political division is the United States? — A republic. 

How long has it been a republic? — One hundred years. 

To what nation did the thirteen original States belong? — To 
England. 

When did they declare tliemselves independent? — July 4, 
1776. 

Why did they declare their independence? — Because they 
W'Cre unjustly oppressed by England. 

What is the war called which occurred at this time between 
the United States and England? — Tlie War of the Revf)lution. 

What Catholic nation very materially assisted the Americans 
during this war? — France. 

How long did the War of the Revolution last? — About eight 
years. 

At its close who became the first President of the United 
States? — George Washington. 

This is the whole lesson. This is the general 
account of the colonization and early history of the 



Educational Pketensions of Eome. 283 

United States. And this is a good sample of the pro- 
portion of the rolo assigned to Jesuit missionaries all 
through these books. . . . The descendant of the ISTew 
England Puritans, or of other worthies whom some 
of us have been in the habit of thinking as standing 
for something in this American enterprise, is moved 
to ask the Jesuit, when he reads of all his accomplish- 
ments in these books, " Did any body help you found 
the American republic? " 

Under the special head of ISTew England, in this 
particular geography, comes this further historical 
information, so admirably calculated to clear up any 
thing left doubtful as to the genesis and signiiicance of 
l^ew England in particular : 

What was the first settlement in the New England States? — 
A Jesuit mission on Mount Desert Island (in 1612). 

By whom was this settlement destroyed? — By the English. 

What people made a permanent settlement in Massachusetts 
in 1620?— The Pilgrim Fathers. 

Who were they?— English Protestants who, being persecuted 
by their Protestant fellow countrymen, took refuge in America. 

How did they act in their new home? — They proved very 
intolerant, and persecuted. all w'ho dared to worship God in a 
manner different from that which they had established. 

That is all. The important significant thing about 
the founding of ]^ew England is supposed to be told — 
there is no room for any thing more than the leading 
facts. ISTow, ladies and gentlemen, you do not need to 
be told, and the makers of this book do not need to be 
told, that this is not history. History is not history at 
all save as its proportions are preserved. The Jesuit 
missionaries were heroic men, and they are most in- 
teresting figures — we are glad our own Mr. Parkman 
has written so much and so well about them. But 
their settlements and efforts were sporadic, and have 
had almost no influence upon the main currents of our 



28-J: Romanism vs. The Public School System. 

American life and the development of our institutions, 
whose sources are here left almost unnoticed. The 
" Jesuit mission on Mount Desert Island " should not be 
mentioned in a primary text-book. It is questionable 
whether even Father Marquette should be mentioned 
in a book which has no space to tell how the present 
North-west became what it is. The boy or girl who 
learns history from such books learns no history. 

These geographies are stamped on the title-page as 
by a " Catholic teacher." Many of the books are 
marked as belonging to a "Catholic Educational 
Series." Here is the Voung Catholic's Fifth Reader ; 
almost every portrait in it is that of a bishop. " This 
Third Reader., in common with other books of the 
Cathohc IS^ational Series, has one chief characteristic," 
says the preface, " namely, a thoroughly Catholic tone, 
which will be found to pervade the whole book." * 
About that there is no doubt. From the first story, 
on " Bessie's First Mass," to the pieces on " How to be 
a Nun," "Saint Bridget," and "The Saint Patrick 
Penny," the " thoroughly Catholic tone " never fails. 
The Catholic name and atmosphere and effort are 
every-wdiere. Ladies and gentlemen, that is bad. My 
good Catholic friends, that is bad for you, bad for j^our 
cliildren. It is not good for any of us to let our de- 
nominationalism be the " chief characteristic " of any 
of our books, much less our children's books. We do 
not want, any of us. Catholic reading-books, nor 
Quaker spelling-books, nor Jewish geographies, nor 
Baptist histories, nor Presbyterian grammars, nor 
High Church cook-books, nor Unitarian geologies, 
nor Trinitarian arithmetics. 

My Catholic brother, are you doing your duty as a 

*The Third Beadi-r. Catholic Nationiil Series. By Ri,?lit Rev. Eichard 
Gilmour, D.D., Bishop of Cleveland. New York: Benziger Bros. 



Educational Pketensions of Rome. 285 

citizen of this free republic ? Are you doing your duty 
to your children if you let them get their history from 
books in which every " stronghold of bigotry and in- 
tolerance " is always an anti-Catholic place 'i Is it right 
to let them be taught that " the holy see has been 
God's instrument in conferring upon Europe all the 
real good she enjoys ? " Is it right to teach them that 
" to Catholics are due nearly all the valuable inven- 
tions we have ? " Is it right to teach them that " the 
only bond of unity among Protestants is a common 
hostility to Catholicity ? " Is it right to teach them 
that the English free-thinkers, from whom Kousseau 
and Voltaire drew some of the ideas which wrought 
the French Revolution, were men who " denied the 
difference between good and evil ? " Is it right to 
represent the Thirty- Years' War as a Lutheran rebell- 
ion assisted by " the Protestants of France," saying no 
word of Cardinal Richelieu's hand in the matter ? Is 
it well to harp so mncli on Salem witchcraft, and to 
say nothing of the six hundred condemned in one 
district in France by Boguet, of the fifty who suffered 
at Donay, of the fact that the " witches' hammer " — one 
of the inventions not catalogued by Bishop Gilmour — 
was the work of two German Dominicans ? Is it right 
to record the reported answer of the Duke of Guise to 
his Huguenot would-be assassin, " If your religion 
teaches you to assassinate me, mine obliges me to par- 
don you," and to fail even to mention the assassination 
of William the Silent by the paltry wretch Gerard, an 
assassin fortified for his task by " holy communion," 
and applauded as the doer of a laudable and generous 
deed by his most Catholic majesty of Spain, who, upon 
the assassin's execution, elevated his family to a place 
among the landed aristocracy ? Is that the honest way 
of teaching history ? 



286 Romanism vs. The Public School System. 

But it may be urged that tliis is all nobody's busi- 
ness. The Catholic priest may say that he has nothing 
to say about any books used in any Protestant private 
school, and that people have a right to do what they 
please in their own affairs. My good friend, that ar- 
gument is quite out of date. You are a hundred 
years behind the times when you say that. You shall 
go to school to my friend's tive-year-old boy if you 
have not got beyond that. '' Let Jack alone," AVill 
said to Dick, who was quarreling with Jack about his 
sled ; " the sled is his, he has a right to do whatever he 
will with his own." " No, sir," retorted Dick, firmly; 
" he has not a right to do whatever he will with his 
own ; he only has a right to do what is right w4th his 
own." It is not our policy in this republic to foolishly 
or hastily or oppressively meddle with any society or 
with any man. There will never be any interference 
with any man who, for religious reasons or any other, 
chooses to educate his children otherwhere than in the 
public schools, so long as that education is done in any 
just, proper, and respectable way. But our people do 
not recognize the right of any body to do whatever he 
pleases with his own. The interests of the State are 
paramount to the caprice of any man or any l.>ody of 
men ; the whole community is under sacred obligations 
to eacli child born into it, and every one of us is on his 
good behavior. There is no society among us whose 
affairs are or can be simply its own affairs; and if 
rank abuses or the teaching of palpable and baneful 
untruths become common and regular in any private 
school in Boston, whether on Moon Street or Chest- 
nut Street or Marlborough Street, then it is inevitable 
that sooner or later there shall be such State super- 
vision as shall stop it. 



Educational Pketensions of Rome. 287 

Inferiority Acknowledged by Eminent Roman 
Catholics. 

A very candid and eminent Roman Catholic, Mr. 
Orestes A. Bronson, LL.D., confirms this view. 
Speaking of Roman Catholic colleges, he said : 

They ]3racticallj fail to recognize human progress. 
. As far as we are able to trace the effect of 
the most approved Catholic education of our day, 
whether at home or abroad, it tends to repress rather 
than quicken the life of the pupil, to unfit rather 
than prepare him for the active and zealous discharge 
either of his religious or his social duties. They who 
are educated in our schools seem misplaced and mis- 
timed in the world, as if born and educated for a 
world that has ceased to exist. Comparatively few 
of them (Catholic graduates) take their stand, as 
scholars or as men, on a level with the graduates of 
non-Catholic colleges ; and those who do take their 
stand do it by throwing aside nearly all 'they learned 
from their Alma Mater, aijd adopting the ideas and 
principles, the modes of thought and action they find 
in the general civilization of the country in which 
they live. . . . The cause of the failure of wdiat 
we call Catholic education is, in our judgment, the 
fact that we educate not for the future, but for the 
past. 

We do not mean that the dogmas are not 
scrupulously taught in all our schools and colleges, 
nor that the words of the catechism are not duly in- 
sisted upon. We concede this, and that gives to our 
so-called Catholic schools a merit which no others 
liave or can have. There can be no question that 



2SS Romanism vs. The Public School System. 

wliat passes for Catholic education in this or any other 
country has its ideal of perfection in the past, and 
that it resists, as un-Catholic, irreligious, and opposed 
to God, the tendencies of modern civilization. . . . 
The work it gives its subjects, or j5repares them to 
perform, is not the work of carrying it forward, but 
that of resisting it, driving it back, anathematizing 
it as at war with the Gospel, and either of neglect- 
ing it altogether or taking refuge in the cloister, in 
an exclusive or exaggerated asceticism, always border- 
ing on immorality, or of restoring a former order of 
civilization, no longer a living order, and which hu- 
manity has evidently left behind and is resolved shall 
never be restored. 

The Christian World '^ bears the following testi- 
mony : 

Some statistics have lately been in circulation 
through the press which are calculated to convey 
very erroneous impressions respecting the part of 
Koman Catholicism in American education. Of 303 
colleges and nniversities in this country it is said that 
the Koman Catholics have 54, the Baptists 48, the 
Methodists 32, the Presbyterians 25, the Congrega- 
tionalists, Lutherans, and Episcopalians 16 each, M'hile 
the remainder are distributed among the less influen- 
tial and numerous denominations. Now any one who 
has even a superficial knowledge of our educational 
institutions knows that these figures mean little or 
nothing ; tliat many, if not most, of the colleges here 
enumerated are little more than high schools, and 
that it is pre-eminently true of the Koman Catholic 
" colleges " that of the fifty-four there is not one that 
is a first-class institution worthy to be named by the 

* October, 1872. 



Educational Pketensions of Kome. 289 

side of Harvard, or Yale, or Princeton, or the uni- 
versities of Virginia and Michigan, or a score of other 
institutions under Protestant influence in and around 
our own city. In fact, any one who will take the 
pains to examine their curriculum will find that, save 
in the single branch of the Latin language, they are 
scarcely above Phillips Academy, at Andover, or the 
Boston High School. Now, it is in the very nature 
of things that such institutions can exert only an in- 
signiticant influence upon the community in the way 
of promoting the higher education. 

The GatJiolic World was only a little in advance 

of the Christicm World ^ in confessing the same 

facts : 

It is high time for us to apply to our own publica- 
tions a little of that free examination which we have 
bestowed upon others, and to let argument among 
Catholic writers be something more than the foolish 
wrangling of ambitious rivals. In the article to 
which we have alluded we said that few of the Cath- 
olics papers had a circulation of more than 10,000 ; 
and some people found fault with us for that. "We 
wish we could give them 25,000 or 50,000 apiece ; 
but it will not mend matters to say that all Catholic 
papers are powerful organs of public opinion when 
we know that they are nothing of tile sort. Most of 
them are doing excellent service within their own 
sphere ; but why affect to deny that their sphere 
is a narrow one and their means are small ? 
We have tried to impress upon the Catholic public 
the duty of supporting the Catholic press to the ut- 
most of their ability. We have shown that where 

* June, 1872. 
19 



290 Romanism v^. The Puulic School System. 

Protestants attack us in a niilliun printed slieets we 
gis'e a feeble* answer in perhaps ten thousand. We 
luunber 8,000,000 souls, yet our newspapers,Avith very 
few exceptions, languish for want of readers, and our 
colleges are not creating a literary class among the 
laity. 

The Catholic Review ^ published a statement by 
Bishop Cosgrove, of Davenport, Iowa, in which, 
complaining of the small support given by Catholics 
to lioman Catholic papers, he says: "We find that 
about one Catholic in forty is a subscriber to one of 
them. We find the combined circulation of all the 
Catholic papers of the country to be less than that of 
a single issue of the Police Gazette. We find it less 
by thousands than the journal [The Christian Advo- 
cate) published by another single establishment, the 
Methodist Book Concern. Protestant exchanges 
charge that our people are ignorant; that they lack 
intelligence, . . . and usually they have the best 
of the argument, for the facts are very stern and hard 
to face." The editor of the Review declared these 
complaints well founded. 

In 1881 the Freeman's Jovrnal called the paro- 
chial schools "apologies, compromises, systemless 
pretenses," in which " a smattering of the cate- 
chism is supplied to fit tlie children for the duties of 
life." 

* Scarcely over 5,000,000 at that time. + March 7, 1885. 



Educational Pketensions of Rome. 291 

A. point Las cropped out, more than once, in our 
discussions which should receive more distinct notice, 
though it will be briefly treated. 

IV. — The Roman Catholic Church does not 
beheve in the education of the masses. 

There are good reasons for making special mention 
of this point. When did she ever exhibit a concern 
for the education of the people? We have noticed 
that wherever she has done her educational work in 
other countries it has been in certain classes and for 
specific ends. Her ideal of civil government does 
not require the education of the whole community. 
Why, then, is the Roman Catholic Church pursuing 
such a different policy in this country from that she 
has followed in the countries where she has long 
been in the ascendency? Jn those countries, we have 
noticed, the masses have been left in ignorance ; but 
here she professes a great concern for the education 
of her people. Why? Rev. Dr. McGlynn, who 
claims that he is still a good Roman Catholic in all 
the essentials of that religion, shall answer this 
question. He said (in part before quoted) : 

The extraordinary zeal manifested for getting up 
these sectarian schools and institutions is, first of all, 
prompted by jealousy and rivalry of our public 
schools and institutions, and by the desire to keep 
children and other beneficiaries from the latter ; and, 



292 Romanism vs. The Public School System. 

secondly, by the desire to make employment for and 
£:ive comfortable homes to the rapidly-increasing 
hosts of monks and nuns who make so-called 
education and so-called charity their regular business, 
for wliich a very common experience shows that they 
have but little qualification beyond their professional 
stamp and garb. It is not risking much to say that if 
there were no public schools there would be very few- 
parochial schools, and the Catholic children, for all 
the churchmen would do for them, would grow up in 
brutish ignorance of letters ; and a commonplace of 
churchmen here would be the doctrine taught by the 
Jesuits in Italy, in their periodical magazine, the 
Civita Cattolica, that the people do not need to learn 
to read ; that all they need is bread and the catechism, 
the latter of which they could manage to know some- 
thing of even without knowing how to read, A con- 
firmation of this is to be found in the very general 
illiteracy in countries where churches and churchmen 
have been exceedingly abundant and have exercised 
temporal control. It is a remarkable fact that in 
Italy, France, and other so-called Catholic countries, 
in- spite of the hostility to the government schools, 
the clergy do not establish parochial schools. The 
ecclesiastical authorities of Italy, while willing enough 
to impose on our Catholic people of America so 
heavy a burden, do not dare to try to impose a similar 
burden upon their people nearer home. * 

Thus spoke Father McGlynn only one year ago. 
It is not often that Roman Catholics are as frank 
in declaring their real sentiments as the CatholiG 
World was, when, a few years ago,f it said : 

* North American Heview, August, 1887. t April, 1871. 



Educational Pketensions of Rome. 293 

"We do not indeed prize so higldy as some of our 
countrymen appear to do the simple ability to read, 
Ma-ite, and ciplier. . . . Some men are born to be 
leaders, and the rest are born to be led. . . . The 
best ordered and administered State is that in which 
the few are well educated, and lead, and the many are 
trained to obedience, are willing to be directed, con- 
tent to follow, and do not aspire to be leaders. . . . 
In extending education and endeavoring to train all 
to be leaders, we have only extended presumption, 
pretension, conceit, indocility, and brought incapacity 
to the surface. . . . We believe the peasantry in old 
Catholic countries two centuries ago were better 
educated, although for the most part unable to read 
or write, than are the great part of the American 
people to-day. . . . For the great mass of the people 
the education needed is not secular education, which 
simply sharpens the intellect and generates pride and 
presumption, but moral and religious education, . . . 
which teaches them to be modest and unpretending, 
docile, and respectful to their superiors. 

Such is the language of the Catholic World, edited 
and conducted by the Paulist Fathers, of which 
Fathers Hecker and Hewitt are conspicuous, prob- 
ably the most progressive and literary of all the 
orders of the Koman Catholic priesthood. 

One time, in a large town in Indiana, a company of 
gentlemen were interested to introduce a new railway 
into the place. One of the number called upon the 
Roman Catholic priest to secure him not to oppose 
the coming of the road into the town. The gentle- 



291 Romanism vs. The Public School System. . 

man was unfortunate in one of his suggestions to the 
priest, for he said, among other things : " This new 
road will add to the general intelligence of the 
place." " I don't want it," said the priest, instantly ; 
" my people know too much already. If they know 
any more I can't do any thing with them." 

Pope Gregory XVI., in his celebrated encyclical of 
August 15, 1832, said : 

If the holy Church so requires, let us sacrifice our 
6wn opinions, our knowledge, our i7itelligence, the 
splendid dreams of our imagination, and the most 
sublime attainments of the human understanding. 



Can lioME Change? 



QUESTION X. 

Has Homanism adojyted a More Enlight- 
ened and Liberal I^olicy in our Times 
and in our Country ? 

11^ discussing this question we are first of all brought 
face to face with the utterances of the famons 
papal encyclical, issued only twenty-four years ago, 
in which the Pope formally set at naught some of the 
most vital principles of modern society. 

This letter, issued December 8, 1864:, condemned as 
errors eighty of the leading and ruling principles of 
modern civilization. He stated them negatively, but 
we take the liberty to put them into the correspond- 
ing affirmative form,* retaining the original numbers 
of the encyclical. 

The fundamental principle of democratic govern- 
ment is that all civil jpowiiv emanates from the people 
— they are the sovereigns ; but the Romish Church 
denies this, and holds that : 

(39.) The people a7'e not the source of all civil power. 

(19.) The Romish Church has a right to exercise 
its authority, loithout having any limits set to it hy 
the civil power. 

* We give it in the form and with the commeuta of Dexter A. Hawkins, 
Esq., a late member of the New York Bar. 



296 Romanism vs. The Public School System. 

(24.) The Romifih Church has the right to avail 
itself of force^ and to use the temporal 2:>otver for that 
pwi'jpose. 

(26.) The Romish C%urch has an innate and legit- 
imate right to acquire^ hold^ and to use property 
toithout limit. 

In our coiintiy, cliurches and religions corporations, 
as well as all other corporations, can hold property 
only when authorized so to do by statute, and for 
the uses specified by statute, and then only to the 
amount fixed by statute. The Romish Church op- 
poses all this, as it prevents it from swallowing 
up the property of the country. In England, be- 
fore the statutes of mortmain, it had got possession 
of one third of tlie property of the kingdom ; and so 
astute were the priests in evading these statutes that 
it took four hundred years to perfect them sufficiently 
to protect the public against the rapacity of this 
Church. 

Blackstone says that but for those statutes ecclesi- 
astical corporations would soon have engulfed the 
whole real estate of England. With all these pre- 
cautions the civil power had finally to resort to con- 
fiscation to restore enough of the lands to the people 
to insure the prosperity of the realm. 

In Italy, Spain, and Mexico the civil government, 
for like reasons, though it was Roman Catholic, has 
been compelled to resort to confiscation. 

In this country, if we should admit that this Church 
has the innate power of acquiring, holding, and using 
property without limit, we should soon have to resort 
to confiscation to save something for the people. His- 
tory repeats itself. 

(27.) The j)ope and the priests ought to have do- 
minion over the temporal affairs. 

Hence, in all countries, when not prevented by law, 



Can Rome Change? 297 

they always have and always will interfere in polities 
and elections, and threaten with spiritual penalties 
voters of their faith id order to get control of the 
State. 

(30.) The Romish Church and her ecclesiastics 
have a right to immunity from civil law. 

An essential principle of our Government is, on the 
contrary, that every person and every corporation, 
wdiether lay or ecclesiastic, is equally answerable to 
the civil law. 

(31.) The Romish clergy should he tried for civil 
and criminal offenses only in ecclesiastical courts. 

In 1853, just after the free governments in Italy 
had been crushed out, and the influence of this 
Church restored, I attended trials in the courts in 
Florence for a month, and almost daily questions and 
cases arose involving in some way the Church or ec- 
clesiastics ; and in every instance the judges promptly 
held that the civil power could not entertain any case 
or question ajffecting tlie Church or ecclesiastics, but 
that all such must be referred to the tribunals of the 
Church. 

(42.) In case, of conflict between the ecclesiastical 
and civil powers the ecclesiastical powers ought to 
prevail. 

Under this principle the Romish Church, in coun- 
tries where it is in full power, has set aside and an- 
nulled laws and judgments on the ground that they 
were in conflict with the policy and rules of the 
Church. 

(45.) The Romish Church has the right to inter- 
fere in the discipline of the public schools, and in the 
arrangement of the studies of the public schools, and 
in the choice of the teachers for these schools. 

It has exercised this right in every country where 
it had the power to do it. If it had the power here 



2'JS Romanism vs. The Public School System. 

it would re-write or throw out froui our public schools 
a large part of the text-books, and substitute the cate- 
chism ; and no teacher would be permitted to instruct 
in either public or private schools unless first approved 
by this Church, as was the case formerly, but not 
now, in Italy, Spain, and Austria. 

(47.) Puhlic schools open to all children for the 
education of the young should he under the control of 
the Romish Church, and should not he suhject to the 
civil power nor made to conform to the opinions of 
the age. 

In countries where it has the power no school is 
allowed to exist, nor is any one allowed to teach, un- 
less lirst approved and permitted by this Church. 
Many schools have been closed and teachers punished 
in Italy, Spain, and Mexico for attempting to go on 
without this approval and permission. In our free 
country any one has a right to establish a school and 
to teach in it without the permission of any Church 
or even the civil authorities. To acquire and impart 
knowledge is one of the sacred and inborn rights of 
our people. 

(48.) While teaching primarily the hnowledge of 
natural things the puhlic schools must not he sepob- 
rated from the faith and power of the Romish 
Church. 

(53.) The civil power has no right to assist persons 
to regain their freedom who have once adopted a re- 
ligious life — that is., hecome priests., monhs, or nuns. 

(54.) The civil power is inferior and subordinate 
to the ecclesiastical power., and in litigated questions 
of jurisdiction should yield to it. 

(55.) Church and State should he tmited. 

(78.) 2^he Roman Catholic religion should he the 
only religion of the State, and all other modes of wor- 
ship should he excluded. 



Can Rome Change? 299 

In every country, wlietlier monarchy or republic, 
where the Romish Church has obtained sufficient 
power it has excluded all other forms of worship and 
made public worship in any other form than their own 
a crime severely punishable. Under the present con- 
stitution of the Romish Church it cannot change these 
guiding and ruling principles, even if it would ; for 
that would destroy the doctrine of infallibility. It 
cannot refuse obedience to these doctrines without 
ceasing to be itself. 

Under such a regimen what opportunity is there 
for the progress of society ? 

Some who have followed this discussion may be 
inclined to think that I have not been sufficiently 
liberal toward the Roman Catholic Church as it 
stands before the public at the present time. They 
recognize the fact that her former history has been 
bad, and substantially as I have described it, but are 
disposed to more charitably construe her present atti- 
tude, especially in the United States. 

The Catholic University at Washington, D. C. 

' It may seem strange to some, just in the wake of 
the laying of the corner-stone of a great Roman Cath- 
olic university in our national capital, to which so 
much attention has been given of late by the public 
press, that either the amount or the quality of Roman 
Catliolic education should be called in question. On 
the 24th of May last a most imposing ceremony of 



300 KoMANisM VS. The Public School System. 

laying tlie corner-stone of this American Catholic 
Tiniversitj was conducted in the presence of a great 
a)'ray of prelates and statesmen, and of President 
Cleveland. The Right Rev. John Lancaster Spald- 
ing, D.D., Bishop of Peoria, 111., delivered an elo- 
quent address, in which he discoursed upon the debt 
of modern science to Christianity, the advantages of 
a " True University," the qualities of a " Cultivated 
Christian," etc. 

The Catholic World* in setting forth the reasons 
for this university, and for locating it in Washington, 
D. C, says : " The Church is an intellectual body," 
etc. " That this is not known to non-Catholics is the 
greatest misfortune that the Church suffers from." 
Indeed ? Is it not the greatest misfortune to the 
Church that, after having been so long in the world 
and so prominent before the public and in all history, 
it has never yet impressed the world that it " is an 
intellectual body?" The Church has at last reached 
the period, says the Catholic World, when " the in- 
tellectual side of Catholicity can only be adequately 
revealed by a university," and that, too, at a point 
" when the supreme activity of American life — the 
political — reaches its culmination." It is, indeed, 
high time that " the intellectual side of Catholicity " 
was " adequately revealed. " But what a confession 

*Augnst, 1888. 



Can Rome Change? 301 

the statement implies for a Church claiming such great 
antiquity ! If Eomanism was one of the younger 
religious bodies, as the Disciples, or the Free Will 
Baptists, or some other denomination which has 
come into being within fifty or one hundred years, 
the language would not imply such a humiliating 
acknowledgment. This writer is not through with 
confessing ; but, in his case, privacy is removed from 
the confessional, and it is the ear of the world into 
which the confession is poured. He expresses the 
hope that henceforth there will be " a gradual cessa- 
tion of that distrust and suspicion that Catholicity is 
inimical to free institutions — a sentiment which is 
the greatest obstacle, in many minds, to Catholic 
truth." A great task is this which he assigns to Ro- 
manism, to live down so bad a record of hostility to 
freedom, extending through so many centuries, writ- 
ten in blood and torture, authenticated in all history, 
perpetuated in monuments, again and again renewed, 
every decade, by fresh utterances against the right of 
private judgment, and the re-assertion of the very 
same old dogmas, whose logical sequence is intoler- 
ance toward all non-papal ideas and institutions. 

It was, indeed, the more necessary for the Roman- 
ists to make this act conspicuous, because the Church 
of Rome has suffered in its reputation as an educator 
from the palpable facts of her own history. The 



302 Romanism vs. The Public School System. 

practical results of her long exclusive sway in South- 
ern Europe, South America, etc., etc., have not been 
favorable to her reputation. Unlike Protestantism, 
the history of the Roman Catholic Church may be 
searched in vain, through some centuries, for another 
example of the founding of a university on a scale 
at all proportionate to what is claimed for the one to 
be established in Washington, D. C. Romanists 
needed to make an educational demonstration. It 
was eminently spectacular in tinsel and titles, but con- 
spicuously wanting in the scientific spirit and method. 
But tiie most glowing prospectus of this new Roman 
Catholic university falls far below many of the 
American universities, both State and denomina- 
tional. If the curriculum of studies in this new 
papal university is based upon fundamental principles 
of tlie "infallible Church," its students will be faced 
toward mediaeval times; and, blindfolded by absolute 
authority, and with ears closed to the ringing notes 
of modern progress, they will be driven backward 
over the dusty pathways of tradition and decay. No 
university foundation, with however generous endow- 
ment, or imposing structures, or high-sounding titles, 
can deliver Rome from her rigid, iron bondage. 
Her education is cloistered in offensive, unalterable 
dogmas, limited by the Missal and cramped by 
scholasticism. 



Can Rome Change? 303 

Aee New Ideals Possible? 

Her ideals are all in the past, ill-timed, and coldly 
rigid. Corner-stones, and high battlements, and tur- 
rets, and domes, and magniticent endowments, and 
titled professors, will not compensate for cloistered 
thought, iron-clamped dogmas, and a medigeval at- 
mosphere — the invariable products of a policy dic- 
tated from the Yatican ; for no Roman Catholic, all 
over this habitable globe, can get away from tlie lead- 
ing-strings of the propaganda at Rome. 

Does some one say that the founding of that uni- 
versity may be an attempt to inaugurate a new era 
in Romanism? Roman Catholics will not thus speak. 
Intelligent papists know that Rome has no new eras ; 
that new eras do not enter into her conceptions. She 
discounts the new, and bestows all her premiums upon 
the old. There may be new phases in her external 
liistory, but no new doctrines, no new policy, no break- 
ing away from any thing which is her essential self. 
She may dispense with fire and fagot, with the sword 
and gibbet, and allow her Inquisitions to slumber, when 
she is obliged to, having no power to use them. But 
she enforces upon her people the same old dogmas, and 
absolute submission to her autliority. She does this now, 
as evei', by the arts of the confessional, by withholding 
the sacraments, by the terrors of excommunication. 



30i EoMANisM VS. The Public School System. 

But some will ask, Did not Bishop Spaulding, in that 
corner-stone address, eloquently portray a new policy, 
more in harmony with American ideas of progress, 
which was to characterize that university? In that 
corner-stone address Bishop Spaulding presented a 
singular spectacle, though not altogether novel, of a 
papal ecclesiastic posing before the American public 
in the attitude of one struggling to tlu'ow off bondage 
to the past, and present the Roman Church in harmony 
with the spirit of modern progress. He said, " Like the 
old, the Church can look to the past." Yes, indeed, 
its visual focus has been long fixed upon the past, 
and she has continually pointed her people to past 
ages for their ideals, their standards, their authority. 
He then says, "Like the young, she can look to the 
future." Whether she can do so is yet to be seen. 
Born in the Dark Ages, and all her ecclesiastical and 
doctrinal theories shaped, hammered, and fixed by the 
schoohnen, the logicians of that murky period, her 
mental vision, like the eye of the owl, is adapted to 
see only in the dark. How can minds long accustomed 
to seek for truth amid the shadows and mists of the 
Dark Ages bear the brighter light of modern ideas ? 

But do some inquire, "Will not a new country, a 
republic, like the United States, call for some modi- 
fications of Romanism here ? " Her possibilities will 
doubtless be, and indeed are already, limited by her 



Can Home Change? 305 

environment, so that she cannot act the part she used 
to act m the old papal countries in Europe. But that 
is a different matter from changing her fundamental 
dogmas, and the inevitable logical sequence of those 
dogmas. Still living on that old basis, if the old 
opportunities return, who can affirm that Rome will 
not reproduce the terrible scenes of the olden times ? 

But we will let Bishop Spalding speak again. He 
proceeds, "If there are Cathohcs who Hnger regret- 
fully amid glories that have vanished, there are also 
Catholics who, in the midst of their work, feel a 
confidence which leaves no place for regret, who 
understand that the earthly environment in which the 
Church lives is subject to change and decay, and that 
new surroundings imply new tasks and impose new 
duties.'' "Well said, Bishop Spalding! But how do 
Roman Catholics succeed who turn their faces to their 
new environments, and attempt the "new tasks" 
which "new surroundings" "im23ly?" How far do 
they break away from Rome's old paths? What 
opportunities has Romanism had afforded her amid 
the favoring circumstances of the new civilization of 
the United States, and how often have many Amer- 
ican Protestants looked to see the sons of Rome im- 
prove these splendid opportunities for rehabilitation ! 
Many Protestants have sincerely looked and hoped for 
it, and have construed, as favorably as possible, every 
20 



306 Romanism vs. The Public School System. 

indication wliicli has afforded a chance for a favorable 
construction of her pohcy. But each break of light 
through the clouds has been followed by a darker 
overcast of the ecclesiastical lirnminent. 

Papal Infallibility Indorsed by American Prel- 
ates. 

When, within the clear recollection of many of us, 
the dogmas of the innnaculate conception and the 
infallibility of the pope came uj) for decision and 
formal proclamation at Eome — the former in 1854 
and the latter in 1870 — it was felt, now the American 
prelates have an opportunity to resist the retrograding 
policy of Rome, and insist upon turning the face of 
the papacy toward the advancing sun. These dogmas 
were as purely mediaeval as any that could have been 
cited, as pernicious in their influence, and by logical 
sequence, too, the most relentless and odious in prac- 
tical results. Though held in some form for centuries, 
they were brought up for formal definition and proc- 
lamation in two sessions of the Ecumenical Council at 
Rome. How did the American bishops perform their 
part ? One by one, some very reluctantly, but, finally 
and fully, all assented to the monstrous dogmas. They 
lost their opportunity. 

AVlien the dogma of the infallibility of the pope 
was proclaimed eighty -eight meml)ers of the council 



Can Rome Change? 307 

voted against it. Who were thej ? Were tliey prel- 
ates from the United States, the nation of advanced 
ideas of hberty and progress ? Let us see. Twenty- 
five were from Austria, 25 from France, 11 from 
Germany, 8 from the British dominions, 6 from Italy, 
6 from Turkey and Persia, and only 4 from the 
United States, out of over 50 present from this 
country. Roman Catholic jjrelates from this country 
of liberal ideas fell behind those of even Austria, 
France, and otiier portions of papal Europe, in the 
spirit of modern progress. 

What was the object in view in proclaiming the 
infallibility of the pope? It was, says the CatholiG 
World, "to give the papacy more complete spiritual 
supremacy over the conscience," When the council 
was called every bishop, archbishop, and cardinal all 
over the world was required to be present. To be 
absent without due cause, the reason to be decided by 
an authority, was to expose the absentee to a heavy 
penalty, A circular was sent out intimating that 
although the right and duty of proposing matters to 
he acted upon hy the Council helonged only to the pope 
and his associates in Italy, yet others might be submit- 
ted to the committee intrusted with the programme of 
business at Rome, who should exercise the right of 
deciding what they considered most important to the 
general Church ; but it was distinctly stipulated that 



308 Romanism vs. The Public School System. 

sucli matters " mnst not run counter to the constant 
belief of the Church and her inviolable traditions." 
There was, then, no chance for any reform meas- 
ures. 

The council came together in December, 1869, and 
the discussion of the question of the infallibility of the 
pope was reached May 13, 1870. The proposition was 
to proclaim that the pope is infallible when he teaches 
cx-cathedra.^ This was not wholly a new doctrine, but 
the Church was to define and proclaim, in formal 
words, a doctrine which had always been held and 
acted on in some form, but not with the exclusive ^ 
power with which he was now to be invested. It did 
not refer to the jjope's life and conduct, but to his 
official teaching of doctrine, and means that in such 
teaching he cannot fall into error. 

When the vote on this proposition was taken, 
July 11, 451 voted in favor of it, 62 conditionally in 
favor of it (yplacet juxta inoduin\ and 88 uncondi- 
tionally against it. Of these 88 four out of over 50 
were from the United States (the Archbishop of 
St. Louis and the Bishops of Pittsburg, Little Rock 
and Rochester). Of 62 who voted conditionally 
against it 4 were from the United States (the 
Archbishops of Oregon City, and New York, and the 

* See Dehnrbe's Catrcfiism, pp. 142, 143. 

t See paragraphs near the close of tiiis cliapter, where it is more fully 
e.N plained. 



Can Eome Change? 309 

Bisliops of Monterey and Savannah). Three Ameri- 
can bishops were absent and one had died. 

How came the absurd dogma to be approved? 
Many bishops went to the council opposed to its 
proclamation — conspicuously some American bishops. 
Said a correspondent of the New York Tribune^ de- 
scribing the work : 

On the arrival of the fathers in Rome they found 
themselves in the position of boys in a public school. 
Their business was cut out for them — what they were 
to do, how they were to do it, and to what limits they 
might go, was accurately laid down. The head 
master kept them well in hand. They fretted and 
remonstrated, but were compelled to submit- Kew 
regulations, still more binding, were issued. Remon- 
strances were sent in ; some very energetic action was 
contemplated. " Should they leave Rome ? " " Sliould 
they absent themselves from the council ? " were 
questions deeply pondered. " Gross and unmannerly 
interruptions, hisses and howls, and harsh epitliets 
greeted speakers who exercised a little freedom in 
uttering adverse views, while the cardinal president 
rung tlie bell to call the speaker to order, and if he 
failed to succeed, the speaker was pulled down from 
the pulpit." "In short, the man who ventured to 
differ from the Roman court was regarded almost as 
a criminal by a portion of the council and by the 
pope." " The council," it was said, " was summoned 
not to discuss, but to obey." 

Those who differed from the managers of the 
council were called " heretics," " Jews," " Galileans," 



olO Romanism vs. The Public School System. 

" falsifers," " Protestants." Tims was tlie approval 
of the dogma wrung out of the council, every Amer- 
ican bishop at last giving his assent. So that 
it was currently said in Rome, " The bishops who 
came as ' pastori ' (shepherds), leave Rome as ' pe- 
core ' (sheep), and may go and gambol; for, having 
shorn themselves, they are light as lambs." 

This is but a single instance in which the bishops 
of the United States, the land of the advancing sun, 
have ignored the sentiment of Bishop Spalding, that 
" new surroundings imply new tasks and new duties," 
and indorsed one of the darkest and most retrograd- 
ing dogmas of the Middle Ages. 

Medieval Ideas of American Romanism. 

Bishop Spalding goes on to say : " The splendor 
of the mediaeval Church, its worldly power, the pomp 
of its ceremonial, the glittering pageantry in which 
the pontiffs and prelates vied with kings and em- 
perors in gorgeous display, are gone or going ; and 
were it given to man to recall the past the spirit 
whereby it lived would be wanting." But the dog- 
mas of the mediaeval Church remain, all reiterated, 
taught, and enforced. The triumph of the dogma of 
the infallibility of the pope shows the power of the 
mediseval spirit and the mediaeval logic. Its formal 
proclamation was the inevitable logical sequence of 



Can Rome Change? 311 

premises laid down in mediaeval times and continually 
cited even to our day. 

The trouble is a logical one. The theory of the 
papacy was wrought out and its premises laid in the 
Dark Ages, and not until tlie premises are discarded 
can Romanism radically change. Tliese old premises 
they have long drilled into the priesthood and young 
students of theology ; and they propose to drill all 
their children and youth, from the pai'ochial schools 
to seminaries, colleges, and universities, in the same 
dogmas, and thus hold them in the iron clamps of 
mediaeval logic. What is the reason ? The American 
school system, they fear, w^ill loosen them from the 
old moorings. 

Dr. Orestes A. Bronson wrote : 

The opposition to us represented by "Native Amer- 
ican " and "Know Nothing " sorties or movements is 
not in opposition to us as orthodox Christians, nor, in 
itself considered, to us as foreigners, but simply as the 
representatives of a civilization different from the 
American, and in many respects inferior and opposed 
to it." 

Mr. Bronson also said : 

What passes for Catholic education prepares its 
subjects for neglecting civilization, taking refuge 
in an exaggerated asceticism always bordering on 
immorality or restoring a former order of civiliza- 
tion. 



312 Romanism vs. The Public School System. 

The pcjlar star of Rome is still fixed in the old 
mediseval firmament. Even the most advanced Ro- 
man Catholic writers in our times continue to glorify 
the Dark Ages for their superior virtues. 

The editor of the American Catholic Quarterly 
Jieview, the leading periodical of Romanism in the 
United States, in July, 1888, said, "the most promi- 
nent characteristic of them (the Middle Ages) was 
their faith. They were emphatically ' Ages of Faith.' 
In this respect they present a marked contrast with 
the skepticism, the infidelity, and disbelief of modern 
times." The writer admits that there was " barbar- 
ism, darkness," etc., even among Roman Catholics, 
but among those who " disobeyed the faith which they 
believed ; " nevertheless, he says, " in their Christian 
Catholic aspects " they were well nigh perfect, and 
" the most prominent .characteristic," " under those 
aspects, was their faith." 

How much evidence of a new liberalizing spirit 
does this leading Catholic periodical exhibit? Was 
it " faith " or an unquestioning credulity which is here 
glorified ? 

What else can the proposed great University at 
Washington do than follow in the same old methods ? 
Nothing could please Protestants more than to see it 
break away from the old ideals ; but how can it ? 
It will be held in the leadiuff-strings of Rome. 



Can Eome Change? 313 

What a Catholic Layman Says. 

A Eoman Catholic layman said, in the Independent 
of August 9,* tliat it is impossible for a member of 
that Church to express an opinion which does not co- 
incide with the governing powers of the Church. It 
is prohibited. What chance is there for any mental 
progress in such a body ? How can a man look to a 
future essentially different from the past? How can 
Bisliop Spalding's ideal for the new University at 
Washington ever be realized ? He says " the face of 
hope turns to the future," " leaving their dead with 
their dead ; " and yet papists are continually busy with 
" schemes for bringing back the things that have 
passed away." 

This writer in the Independent says : " The Prot- 
estant, who can speak his mind socially, politically, and 
morally, cannot realize how utterly impossible it is 
for a Roman Catholic, be he priest or layman, to say 
what he really thinks. A curious and very interest- 
ing evidence of this was given quite recently by Arch- 
bishop Walsh, in connection with recent pronounce- 
ments on Irish affairs. He said that while Protestants 
were obliged to decide on such matters f according 
to their conscience, Poman Catholics were bound to 
obey the voice of God as made known by the pope, 

* 1888. + Eeferring to the last papal pronouncement. 



314 Romanism vs. The Public School System. 

and were not allowed the exercise of a private con- 
science. ' Happy Protestants ! ' a Roman Catholic 
friend of the writer's exclaimed, with some emphasis; 
' they are allowed to have a conscience, and are in- 
formed that it is their duty to use it ; whereas we 
Catholics are denied a conscience, practically, since 
we are not to use that which we possess.' In fact, it is 
the plain teaching of the Roman Catholic Church that 
the cojiscience, once submitted to Rome, must remain 
forever submitted.'''' 

On such a basis as that, and affirmed, too, by a 
Roman Catholic, and verilied by the Roman Catholic 
catechism, how can the great University projected at 
Washington ever become anj^ thing but a mausoleum 
of the ideas of the dead past ? How can there be any 
great change or reform in the papal Church, even in 
the favorable circumstances afforded in America, ex- 
cept by some great moral convulsion like the Lutheran 
Reformation? How, then, can Bishop Spalding's ideal 
of a new order of things amid the " new surroundings" 
be realized, so long as it is true that the change and 
decay of earthly environment makes no change in the 
essential character and elements of that Church ? 

This layman proceeds, " It is unhappily the case in 
America that there is a very strong feeling against 
any change of religious opinion ; and this feeling nat- 
urally finds an outcome on individuals who change. 



Can Kome Change? 316 

It is also an unhappy fact, uudeuiably and infinitely 
harmful, that a considerable number of priests who 
have abandoned the Roman Catholic Church are of 
immoral character and degraded habits. Men of 
honor and self-respect do not wish to be classed with 
such men, and would endure any sufferings sooner 
than have the name of being one with them, even in 
sympathy. Hence an immense and crushing difSculty 
lies in the way of those who see the many evils in the 
Roman Catholic Church. They are powerless to re- 
form it from within, and equally powerless to reform 
it from without." . . . 

" Any other tody of men may effect a reform in 
the discipline of their Church, or may leave it with- 
out reproach, if they believe that their conscience 
prompts them to do so. But it is not so with tlie 
Roman Catholic, be he priest or layman, be he ever 
so honorable, be his career ever so blameless, be his 
convictions ever so strong. He is maligned, sneered 
at, and persecuted by the Church he was striving to 
reform, and for the prosperity of which he would 
give his life blood ; and he is suspected and discour- 
aged by the very men who denounce this Church for 
refusing liberty of conscience to her children, and 
yet, such is human nature, discourage those who act 
on this principle." . . . 

"One of the best and most amiable bishops 



316 Romanism vs. The Public School System. 

of the Roman Catholic Church was a friend of the 
writer. He went to tlie Vatican Council,* and in- 
tended to vote against transferring the collective f in- 
fallibility of the Church to the personal infallibility 
of the pope. His determination was strong and 
resolute, and there were, as it was known later, a 
large mimber of bishops who had formed a similar 
determination. They w^ere marked men. Every in- 
fluence was brought to bear on them to change 
their determination — personal persuasion, entreaties, 
threats. The eyes of the world were on the council, 
and it was necessary to make it appear absolutely free 
and absolutely unanimous. I saw that bishop after 
his return, heart-broken, infinitely sad. He died soon 
after. 'But why,' I said, 'did you vote against 
your conscience?' 'What was my conscience,' he 
replied, 'in comparison with the conscience of the 
pope? How could I believe myself right when so 
inanv wiser and holier men believed me to be wrons; ? ' 
"It is well known that Dr. Newman offered some 
serious private objections to this definition, and it 
is said that Archbishop Kenrick simply left the 
council, rather than vote against his conscience or 
against the holy father's desire. 

* The Council that atit in Eome 1869-70, and proolaimed the docrma of 
the infalHbility of the pope. 

t The old doctrine was that the Church in its councils, etc., was in- 
fallible. 



Can Rome Change? 317 

" A letter by Bishop Strossmajer, published in the 
Kolnische Zeitung soon after the council, puts this 
fact very clearly : 

'" TheVatican Council was wanting in that freedom 
which was necessary to make it a real council, and to 
justify it in making decrees calculated to bind the 
consciences of the whole Catholic world. . . . 
Every thing which could resemble a guarantee for 
the liberty of discussion was carefully excluded. . . . 
And, as though all this did not suffice, there was 
added a public violation of the ancient Catholic prin- 
ciple — quod semper^ quod uhique, quod ah omnihus. 
The most hideous and naked exercise of papal infalli- 
bility was necessary before that infallibility could be 
elevated into a dogma. If to all this be added that 
the council was not regularly constituted ; that the 
Italian bishops, prelates, and officials were in a mon- 
strously predominating majority ; that the apostolic 
vicars were dominated by the propaganda* in the 
most scandalous manner ; that the whole apparatus 
of that political power which the pope then exercised 
in Rome contributed to intimidate and repress all 
free utterances, you can easily conceive what sort of 
liberty^ that essential attribute of all councils, was dis- 
played in Rome.' " 

Thus was the personal infallibility of the pope de- 

* The cardinals in Rome and vicinity. 



318 Romanism vs. The Public School System. 

clared and defined as a dogma. " It is only now that 
the pe7'S07ial jyoiver and tlie personal claim of the 
pope to exercise that power in politics is being en- 
forced, that the mnltitnde has begun to realize what 
was done in the Vatican Council." 

Under such a regimen as that, what grounds are 
there for confidence that any amelioration can take 
place in the essential character of Romanism ? There 
is no chance for reform. The Roman Catholic 
Church is ruled by a knot of determined, dark- 
minded, desperate men in Rome, who hold the 
Church close to her mediaeval moorings, and will let 
nothing slip from their relentless grasp. The paro- 
chial school system is a part of their plan. It means, 
more than anything else, the instilling of the most 
ultra mediaeval dogmas of Rome, through the cate- 
chism, into the minds of the children — not mere in- 
struction in regard to morals and practical religion, 
but the dogmas pertaining to the hierarchy, the abso- 
lute authority of the Church, bishops, and priests, 
subjection to the pope and to whatever orders may 
come from Rome. 

We have been accustomed to read the extreme 
declarations of absolutism by European Romanists, 
and to make some allowance for them, on the ground 
that they were proclaimed by men w^lio had all their 
lives been so fauiiliar with absolutism in civil gov- 



Can Rome Change? 319 

erament that tlieir ecclesiastical ideas had been un- 
consciously tinged and shaped by their surroundings. 
Many of our good American citizens have thought 
such' sentiments could not be proclaimed and toler- 
ated even by the Catholic Church, in the United 
States, amid the modifying inJfluences of American 
ideas and American society. They will probably be 
surprised at the list of utterances which have been 
made, not by European Romanists, but by represen- 
tative Romanists in the United States. We therefore 
ask careful attention to declarations made by 

Ameeican Romanists on the Right of Private 
Judgment and Civil and Religious Liberty. 

In 1852 the Rambler, a Roman Catholic periodical 
in England, contained the following remarkable ut- 
terances : 

Religious liberty, in the sense of a liberty possessed 
by every man to choose his own religion, is one of 
the most wicked delusions ever foisted upon this age 
by the father of all deceit. The very name of liberty 
— except in the sense of a permission to do certain 
definite acts — ought to be banished from, the domain 
of religion. It is neither more nor less than false- 
hood. iVo man has a right to choose his religion. 
. . . ISTone but an atheist can uphold the princi- 
ples of religious liberty. . . . Shall I therefore 
fall in with this abominable delusion ? Shall I foster 
tliat damnable doctrine that Sociuianism, and Calvin- 



320 Romanism vs. The Public School System. 

ism, and Anglicanism, and Judaism, are not, every 
one of them, vw?'tal sins, like murder and adultery ? 
Shall I hold out hopes to my erring Protestant 
brother that I will not meddle with his creed if he 
will not meddle with mine? Shall I tempt him to 
forget that lie has 7io more right to his religious 
views than he has to m,y purse, to my house, or to 
my life-Mood ? I*^o ; Catholicism is the most intol- 
erant of creeds. It is intolerance itself, for it is truth 
itself. We might as rationally maintain that a sane 
man has the right to maintain that two and two do 
not make four as this theory of religious libei'ty. Its 
impiety is only equaled by its absurdity. 

The above extract was indorsed by the leading 
organ of the Roman Catholic Church in the United 
States. The FreemarCs Journal^ of New York, 
Archbishop Hughes's own paper, in its issue of June 
26, 1852, referred to the above extract, and said, 
" We willingly indorse every word of itP 

The Shepherd of the Valley, published in the in- 
terests of the papacy in St. Louis, also indorsed it. 

Tliat excellent magazine, the American and For- 
eign Christian Union, is an authority for the follow- 
ing utterance, in its issue for March, 1852, in which 
the whole paper can be found, as quoted from the 
Shepherd of the Valley, a Roman Catholic organ at 
St. Louis, Mo. : 

The radical tendency which has taken such universal 
and firm hold upon the American people is without 
doubt hurrying ics to the pit. Radicalism is simply Prot- 



Can Rome Change? 321 

estantism pnslied to its last consequence — Protestant- 
ism as it really is — not a religion, not a positive sys- 
tem or collection of systems, but the incarnate demon 

of rebellion against all autliority and law 

" The doctrine of the right of private judgment is 
the most ohsurd of cdl doctrines. . . . "The 
Catholic has no mission to propagate democracy. It 
is not the Gospel, and he who thinks that the tem- 
poral or eternal welfare of man depends upon its 
spread had better give to his catechism some of that 
time which he has hitherto devoted to his daily 
paper." 

November 23, 1851, the Shepherd of the Valley 
had uttered even more startling sentiments : 

The Church is of necessity intolerant. Heresy she 
endures when and where she must ; but she hates it 
and directs all her energies to its destruction. If 
Catholics ever gain an immense numerical majority 
religious freedom in this country is at an end. So 
our enemies say ; so we believe. 

Who will say that such declarations are not the 
logical sequences of Catholic dogmas ? 

The New York Tablet, another Koman Catholic 
periodical, has been quoted as uttering these views : 

No self-appointed missionaries of self-created so- 
cieties have any rights against the national religion of 
any country, and no claim even to toleration. The 
Catholic missionary has the right to freedom, because 
he goes clothed with the authority of God, and 
because he is sent by authority that has from God the 
right to send him. To refuse to hear him is to refuse 
21 



322 RoMANIs^[ vs. The Public School Systejl 

to liear God, and to close a Catholic churcli is to sliut 
np the house of God. The Catholic missionary is 
sent by the Church that has authority from God to 
send him ; the Protestant missionary is sent by 
nobody, and can oblige nobody in the name of God 
or religion to hear him. Our Protestant friends 
should bear this in mind. TAei/ have as Protestants 
no authority in religioii, and count for nothing in the 
Church of God. . . . They have from God no right of 
propagandism, and religious liberty is in no sense 
'violated wlien the national authority, whether Cath- 
olic or pagan, closes their mouths or their -places of 
holding forth. 

About thirty-five years ago, when Rev. Mr. Haet- 
ings was the chaplain of tlie American Embassy at 
Rome, the Freemaris Journal declared that, if he 
should " make a single convert, he would be kicked 
out of Rome, though Mr. Cass should bundle up his 
traps and follow him." 

Mr. Bronson, in his Quarterly Revieio for Oc- 
tober, 1852, expressed similar views. He said : 

All tlie I'ights the sects have or can have are derived 
from the State, and rest on expediency. As they have, 
in their chai'acter of sects, hostile to the true religion, 
no rights under the law of nature or the law of God, 
they are neither wronged nor deprived of liberty, if 
the State refuses to grant them any rights at all. . . . 

The sorriest sight to us is to see a Catholic throwing 
up his cap and shouting, "All hail, Democracy ! " 

Again Mr. Bronson "■'' said : 

* Quarteihj Rrvicw, April, 1S5L 



Can Rome Change? 323 

The power exercised over sovereigns in the Middle 
Ages was not an usurpation, was not derived from the 
concessions of princes or the consent of the people ; 
but it was hers (the Church) by divine right ; and ^vho 
so resists it rebels against the King of kings and Lord 
of lords. This is the ground on which we defend the 
power exercised over sovereigns by popes and councils 
in the Middle Ages, . . . All history fails to show an 
instance in which the pope, in deposing a temporal 
sovereign, professes to do it by the authority vested in 
him by the pious belief of the faithful, generally 
received maxims, the oj)inion of the age, the con- 
cessions of sovereigns, or the civil constitution and 
public laws of Catholic States. On the contrary, he 
always claims to do it by the authority committed to 
him as the successor of the prince of the apostles, by 
the authority of his apostolic ministry, by the authority 
committed to him of binding and loosing, by the au- 
thority of Almighty God, of Jesus Christ, King of 
kings and Lord of lords, whose minister, though 
unworthy, he asserts that he is ; or in some such 
formula which asserts that his power is held by divine 
right, etc. . . . The principal Catholic authorities are 
certainly in favor of the divine right. . . . The Gal- 
ilean doctrine was from the beginning the doctrine of 
the courts, in opposition to that of the vicars of Jesus 
Christ, and should therefore be regarded by every 
Catholic with suspicion. 

Soon after, a writer, over the signature " Apostol- 
icus," in the Baltimore Clipper, said : 

I say, with Bronson, that if the Church should 
declare that the Constitution and every existence of 
this and any other country should be extinguished, it 
is a solemn audience of God himself, and every good 



32-i Romanism vs. The Public School System. 

Catholic would be bound, under the penalty of the 
terrible punishment pronounced against the disobe- 
dient, to disobey. 

The Frceviari's Journal^ January 14-, 1854, said : 

Trembling mayors and embarrassed governors shall 
yet appeal to Catholic bishops to lend them their most 
active exertions toward poising on its basis the fabric 
of our republic and the hopes of the Constitution. 

Scarcely ten years later, the Mayor of New York 
called upon Archbishop Hughes • to assist him in 
quelling the Irish riot. The American people will not 
soon forget that during the late civil war liis holi- 
ness, Pius IX., was the only European ruler that 
officially recognized the Southern Confederacy* as 
an independent government, that he made haste to 
interfere in the civil affairs of this country, most 
presumptuously proceeding to appoint Archbishops 
Hughes, of New York, and Odin, of New Orleans, 
as arbitrators to settle our national difficulties, and also 
volunteered a solemn admonition to the chief rulers 
and people of the United States. 

Passing to a later period, we find similar utterances 
in the Catholic World : f 

* He addressed Jefferson Davis as the " Illustrious Honorable Presi- 
dent." This action, following soon after Archbishoi) Husfhes's visit to 
Kome, in the second year of the war, coupled with the fiicls that after 
that the enlistments among the Catholics nearly ceased and the papal 
population became hostile to the war, are very significant. 

t January, 1870. 



Can Eome Change? 325 

My right of conscience is tlie law for the State, and 
prohibits it from enacting any tiling that violates it. 
My Conscience is my Chdech, the Catholic Chdkch ; 
and any restriction of her freedom, or any act in 
violation of her rights, violates or abridges my right 
or freedom of conscience. 

The Catholie World * said : 

The Catholic Church is the medium ,and channel 
through which the will of God is expressed. . . . 
While the State has rights, she has them only in 
virtue and by permission of the suj)erior authority, 
and that authority can only be expressed by the 
Church. 

The same periodical declared, at another time : f 

She (the Church) does not and cannot accept, or in 
any degree favor, liberty, in the Protestant sense of 
liberty. 

In 1870 a Roman Catholic priest in St. Louis 
absolutely refused to give testimony in a court of 
justice, on the ground that by the authority of the 
pope the priesthood were under no obligation to obey 
the civil law. Roman Catholic authorities declare : 
" A priest cannot be forced to give testimony before a 
secular judge. " :j: " The rebellion of priests is not 
treason; for they are not subject to civil govern- 
ment." § 

The CaiJiolic World \ said : 

* July, 1870. t April, 1870. \ Taherna, Vol. II, p. 228. 

§ Emmanuel 8ea. | December, 1870. 



32G KoMANisM vs. The Public School System. 

4 

It has always been the Cathohc interpretation of 
this passage (Matt. 17, 23-26) that the successors of 
St. Peter are by divine right sovereigns, owing no 
subjection, even in temporals, to any civil authority; 
and that whatever obedience they have voluntarily 
rendered at certain times to emperors has been merely 
a condescension, like that of our Lord himself on the 
earth, practiced for the sake of the common good. 

Amekican Pomanism Offensive in Acts. 

When we have been compelled to read of collisions 
between the clerical and secular authorities in some 
European countries over the question of education — 
as in France or Belgium — we have been accustomed 
to assure ourselves with the thought that under the 
conditions of American society, with its freedom, 
tolerance and enlightenment, there is no opportunity 
for such friction and antagonism — that there is no 
likelihood that Roman Catholic priests in Amei'ica 
will attempt to exercise very arbitrary powers or that 
their laity will submit to them. But, as before 
noticed, we have liad numerous cases with shadings as 
dark as in many papal counti'ies. 

A correspondent of the Lntlieran Ohserver gave * 
the following succinct account of the Roman Catholic 
church case, at AVilliamsport, Pa. : 

'Father Stack, who is the priest of the "non German 
Catholics " of this city, has somehow been administering 

* January, 1872. 



Can Rome Change? 327 

the affairs of his parish so as to displease his bishop, 
O'Hara, of Scranton. Without specifying any reasons 
for his action, the bishop ordered Father Stack not 
to "exercise any priestly functions in Williamsport. 
This prohibition binds suh grcmir This phrase, suh 
gravi, was explained to mean, under penalty of the 
divine displeasure. The bishop ordered the German 
priest here, Father Koepper, to take possession of the 
keys of the Church of the Annunciation and hold 
them until further orders. But Father Stack, without 
having the fear of the bishop before his eyes, and not 
even dreading the sub gravi, procured a set of dupli- 
cate keys and went into his church and held service, 
and with a boldness which gives the conduct of the 
priest an air of the heroic, he applied to the court for 
a preliminary injunction to restrain Bisliop O'Hara 
from exercising extra-judicial authority in displacing 
him without due process of trial, as required by the 
canons of the Church. It seems the bishops of the 
Romish Church of this country have been in the habit 
of exercising the most absolute power in displacing 
and removing their priests, and often to the disgust 
and injury of these subordinates. Though others have 
dared to complain of the arbitrary power of the 
bishops, yet no one has had the courage thus far to 
resist them, by apjDcaling to the courts for protection, 
but Father Stack. At first he was joined in his appli- 
cation for an injunction by a number of the members 
of his church, but after reflection they became alarmed 
at the boldness and impiety of resisting their bishop, 
and withdrew their names from the application, and 
left the priest to go to law by himself. Nothing 
daunted by being thus forsaken of his friends, he 
proceeded alone to the encounter. 

Father Stack was aware that there is a law of the 
Church, enacted by the Council of Trent, requiring, 



32S Romanism vs. The Public School System. 

tliougli practically disregarded, that "the superior 
must inquire against his subject respecting those 
things only founded upon evil report, and then cite 
him and give him the chief points of the accusation, 
and make known the evidence and names of the 
witnesses, and shall receive the legitimate defenses of 
the same subject, and only on the proof of a grave 
offense shall he remove him from his administration. 
The father knew that he had enjoyed no such right 
of trial, and was not going to permit himself to be 
put under discipline without a hearing. He says he is 
testing the legitimacy of a prevalent jurisdiction, not 
only for his own sake, but for the sake of the entire 
Catholic priesthood in the country ; and it is gratify- 
ing to the popular sense of justice to know that Judge 
Gamble sustained iho. injunction, and permitted Father 
Stack the use of the Church of the Annunciation and 
the liberty of "exercising priestly functions in Will- 
iamsport," himself not fearing the s^ih gravi. 

Tlie Right Rev. Bishoj) justified himself in his 
affidavit before the court for not heeding the exact 
jirovisions of the canon law enacted by the Council of 
Trent, on the significant ground, " That because of 
the want of tem-poral power to establish the same by 
the holy see, and for want of sovereign legislative 
enactments of the States in this Union, in which they 
are restricted, as well by the Constitution of the 
United States as those of the several States, the 
Catholic Church is and only can be a missionary 
church in the United States." That is to say : 1. That 
'if the holy see had ^Hhe temporal power'''' and 
" sovereign legislative enactments " in this country^ it 
loould use civil force, when necessary, in the adtninis- 
tration of ecelesia sliced discipline ; and 2. Because 
the Constitution of the United States and those of the 
several States do not lend themselves to tlie Church of 



Can Eome Change? 329 

Rome, as instrwfiients of religious tyranny, that the 
Church must itself assume unusual and despotic 

power. 

In April, 1873, the Cincimiati Gazette gave an ac- 
count of the sad and strange death of a Roman Cath- 
olic citizen of Kalamazoo, Michigan. It seems the 
man lent a priest a sum of money to help build a 
parish church, which the Catholic bishop refused to 
recognize subsequently as a loan. " The poor man, 
fearing a foreclosure of the mortgage on his farm, 
brought suit in chancery against the bishop. For 
doing this he was forbidden to partake of com- 
munion by the bishop during the episcopal visit, and 
the edict of excommunication was read to him. 
Fearfully frightened, he asked what his oifense had 
been, and was told that he was excommunicated for 
having sued a bishop of the Church. Being a devout 
believer in the powers of the clergy he was friglitened 
nearly out of his wits, and implored the bisliop to re- 
voke the excommunication. This was done on con- 
dition that he would withdraw his suit. He complied 
with the demand, and the interdict was removed. It 
was too late, however, and the wretched man sank 
lieneath the weight of his fancied guilt and died. 
The matter lias created much excitement in Michigan, 
ns might be expected. Senator Emerson has intro- 
duced in the Legislature a bill punishing by a fine of 



330 EoMANisM vs. The Pculic School System. 

one to live thousand dolhirs, or imprisonment from 
one to five years, any bishop or ])riest who shall ex- 
communicate, or threaten to excommunicate, any 
member to prevent him from commencing any suit 
or collecting any claim." 

The case of Mr. Parker, of Holyoke, Mass., against 
Fathei- Dufresne of that city, was well stated in the 
Boston Daily Advertiser, November 12, 1S79 : 

It appears that Parker went to hear Father Chin- 
iquy, a French Catholic convert to Protestantism, 
preach, as did others of Father Dufresne's parish. 
When Father Dufresne heard of it he called on all 
who had gone to hear Cliinicpiy to acknowledge it. 
Parker did not confess, and was exconnnunicated. 
Afterward the priest, as the complaint phrases it, 
" f randulently, willfully, violently and maliciously in- 
tending to injure the plaintiff in his business," pub- 
licly in the church forbade any person belonging to 
liis church " having or nsing any hacks belonging to 
that liackman that has been to Chiniquy's church," 
threatening to turn them out of the church, and to 
refuse to baptize their children, marry them, or at- 
tend their funerals. It was alleged that a funeral 
party which came to the church in Parker's carriages 
was turned away, the priest saying that he would per- 
form the service " wlien they knew better than to 
come in those hacks, and not before." 

The answer of the priest was that, if it should ap- 
pear that he uttered the words alleged, the acts were 
done " in the proper exercise of his priestly duties 
and authority as the duly settled and installed pastor 
of the French Roman Catholic Church, of which the 



Can Eome Change? 331 

plaintiff was a member ;" tliat the language was not 
uttered unlawfully or maliciously to injure liis busi- 
ness, but " in the lawful exercise of his authority, and 
for tlie proper regulation and discipline of his said 
church and tlie congregation worshiping therein, and 
by the authority and consent of his ecclesiastical su- 
periors, and in the proper discharge of his duties and 
functions." Tlie real question, it will thus be seen, 
was whether church discipline could legally be exer- 
cised in a manner to interfere with a man's right to 
conduct a lawful business and break it up by forbid- 
ding patronage of him. 

The case was tried before Judge Bacon, who, in 
his charge to the jury, presented the law of the mat- 
ter substantially as follows : The law provides a rem- 
edy for a man whose lawful business is interfered 
with by fraud or threats which injure it. It is not 
lawful for any one to interfere with another's busi- 
ness by threatening and intimidating those who trade 
with him. The case must be considered, not with 
regard to any religious communion, but solely with 
regard to the law and the evidence as affecting the 
common rights of all American citizens. He in- 
structed the jury that, before they could return a ver- 
dict for the plaintiff, they must be satisfied that the 
defendant used the language charged, at least the 
material part of it constituting a threat, and that the 
threats were made to deter the defendant's customers 
from employing him, and maliciously either in fact 
or in law. If he had no ill-feeling or spite toward 
the plaintiff, yet if the declarations were without 
justifiable cause, and were of a nature tending to in- 
jure the plaintiff, they were malicious in a legal sense. 
It would be no excuse that he believed it to be his 
duty, nor that ecclesiastical authority upheld him. 
" There is no ecclesiastical authority to be recognized 



332 Romanism vs. The Public School System. 

under our Government whieli allows a wanton and 
unreasonable interference with a man's private busi- 
ness, not connected with the Church from which he 
has been excommunicated. The Church may ex- 
communicate liim, but must not pursue him further 
and interfere with his private business. ... In other 
words, our laws do not allow any ecclesiastical author- 
ity to interdict a man from pursuing his ordinary 
business, or to prevent even the members of the same 
denomination from which he has been excommuni- 
cated to deal with him." 

Father Scully, in tlie enlightened city of Cam- 
bridge, within three miles of the State-house of 
Massachusetts, is a priest who asserts the exclusive 
power of forgiving the sins and saving the souls of 
his parishioners, and of inflicting eternal damnation 
upon those who disobey and refuse to send their 
children to his parochial schools. What would not 
such an ecclesiastical tyranny do if it had the civil 
power on its side? What physical pains and penal- 
ties would it not resort to to enforce its behests ? One 
boy w\as currently reported, in tlie best journals, as 
having been flogged by this priest so badly as to be 
disabled from sitting up for some weeks. Put with 
this the terrible anathemas and excommunications 
prompted by a freak of personal pride and passion, 
and nothing can be conceived more alien to our in- 
stitutions or more repugnant to American ideas of 
liberty. More than this, when complaint was at- 



Can Eome Change? 333 

tempted before the archbishop, it was credibly re- 
ported that parties calling were refused a hearing. 
Yes, an archbishop who is a graduate from Boston 
public schools, who has been credited with unusual 
breadth, good humor, intelligence and candor, gave 
his indorsement not only to Father Scully's purposes, 
but also to the means he used for carrying them out. 
These items were currently mentioned in the news- 
papers and elsewhere, and we have seen no denial of 
them. These things are significant of the spirit and 
tendency of the papal priesthood in the United States. 
What guarantee have we that these methods will 
be limited to educational matters? They will be 
formidable enough if aimed only against the public 
school system so fundamental to American life and 
institutions. But they are applied to other matters. 
How many priests have attempted a spiritual coercion 
over their flocks in regard to voting in elections ? 

Pope Leo XIII. on Liberty. 

The latest, and one of the most important ency- 
clical letters of Pope Leo XIII. was issued from 
Pome on the 20th of June, 1888. It is an exposi- 
tion of the doctrine of " Liberty " as held by the 
Church of Rome. But such a doctrine of liberty ! 
It is only liberty to submit to Pome and do what 
Pome dictates. I am not slurring the document. 



334 RoMAxisM vs. The Public School System. 

There can be no otlier rational interpretation of it. 
Look at the premises laid down in the first para- 
graph. When reasoning with Roman Catholics we 
must remember that thej are skillful logicians — that 
is, in the old tricks of logic laid down by the school- 
men of the Middle Ages. Now let ns notice the 
argument* introduced as the basis for the whole 
letter. The Pope says : 

Man, indeed, is free to obey his reason, to seek 
moral good, and to strive after his last end. Yet he 
is free also to turn aside to all other things, to follow 
after false dreams of happiness, to disturb established 
order, and to fall headlong into the destruction which 
he has voluntarily chosen. 

He says man's will is naturally free, but has an in- 
firmity or weakness under which it is liable to act 
wrongly and fatally wrong. He then proceeds : 

The Redeemer of mankind, Jesus Christ, having 
restored and exalted the original dignity of nature, 
vouchsafed special assistance to the will of man, and 
by the gifts of his grace and the promise of heavenly 
bliss he raised it to a nobler state. 

Christ having made this provision for enabling 
and strengtliening man's will, Pope Leo says, he has 
committed it to his Church to dispense. I will give 
his words : 

* We quote from the letter as published in the Boston Pilot 
August 11, 1888. 



Can Eome Change? 335 

This great gift of nature has ever been, nnd always 
will be, constantly cherished by the Catholic Chni'ch ; 
for to her alone ha^ heen comynitted the charge of 
handing down to all ages tlce benefits ])UTchased for 
lis hy Jisus Christ. 

Here we have the pivotal point of this great En- 
cvclical. The Catholic Church is the repository, the 
dispenser, of this grace which enables men to exercise 
true liberty. It " has been committed " '^ to her 
alone^^ and can be obtained only in her fold, in im- 
plicit, unquestioning obedience to her dictation. 

This is the latest utterance of Rome. The pope 
discourses upon the necessity of law and conformity to 
it — a doctrine w^hich Protestants recognize ; but we 
teach a voluntary obedience to law, the act of indi- 
vidual choice — very different from a blind unquestion- 
ing submission to the dictation of an imperious hier- 
archy. 

He contends that " the profession of one religion is 
necessary in the State ; that one must be professed 
which alone is true,^'' the religion of the ^'"Catholic 
States^ " This religion," therefore, " the rulers of the 
State must preserve and protect." He speaks of the 
theory of "the separation of Church and State" as a 
" fatal theory." He says that " liberty of conscience 
should be restricted to the true religion " (the Roman 
Catholic) " and within these Imiits boldly defended." 



336 Romanism vs. The Public School System. 

That is the whole story about Hbertj — there is no hb- 
erty to be recognized, or which has any claim to be 
respected, outside of the Roman Catholic Church. 
Pope Leo XIII. did not need to proclaim this doctrine 
at this late day. It has for centuries been the de- 
clared policy of Rome, and has been illustrated in 
flames and blood, and the agonizing tortures of the 
Inquisition. These utterances, in the year of grace 
1888, are specially commended to the candid attention 
of such Americans as think Romanism is essentially 
modilied in our times and in our country. 

We hear much about the attachment of the Roman 
Catholics to the political institutions of the United 
States. The American Catholic Quarterly Review ^ 
says it is " because under those institutions they enjoy 
greater religious freedom than they do in Europe, and 
also because the Catholic Church in this country is 
less trammeled and less interfered with, and is much 
more prosperous than it is under most of the govern- 
ments of European countries." Euroj^ean countries 
have had bitter experiences with Romanism, and have 
found that it cannot be trusted. Hence the close 
restrictions there environing the papacy. The larger 
liberty enjoyed by the Church in the United States 
should certainly be ap]3reciated, but the ad cajytandum 
utterances complimentary to American institutions 

*Ju]y, 1888. 



Can Kome Change? 337 

are too illogical, from a Eoman Catholic standpoint, 
and consequently too specious and insinuating, to be 
trusted. This Review further says that Archbishop 
Ryan, of Philadelphia, "has expressed these ideas, 
not only in this countr}^, but also in Europe, and 
notably in Eome, only a few months ago, in his ad- 
dress to the sovereign pontiff of the Church, at the 
formal presentation of a copy of the Constitution of 
the Ilniled States by President Cleveland, in honor of 
the fiftieth ordination to the priesthood of Leo XIII. 
... In confirmation of this we make the following 
brief quotations from that address : 

In your holiness's admirable Encyclical, '^Lnmor- 
tale Dei^'' you truly state that the Church is wedded 
to no particular form of civil government. Your 
favorite theologian, St. Thomas Aquinas, has written 
true and beautiful things concerning republicanism. 
In our American republic the Catholic Church is left 
perfectly free to act out her sacred and beneficent 
mission to the human race. . . . We beg your holi- 
ness, therefore, to bless this great country, which has 
achieved so much in a single century ; to bless the 
land discovered by your holy compatriot, Christopher 
Columbus ; to bless the prudent and energetic Presi- 
dent of the United States of America ; and, finally, 
we ask, kneeling at your feet, that you bless ourselves 
and the people committed to our care. 

In reply to Archbishop Ryan his holiness said : 

As the Archbishop of Philadelphia has said, they 
(the Americans) enjoy full liberty in the true sense of 
22 



338 Romanism vs. The Public School System. 

the term, guaranteed by the Constitution — a copy 
of wliich is presented to me. Religion is there free 
to extend continually, more and more, the empire of 
Christianity, and the Church to develop) her benefi- 
cent activities. As the head of the Church I owe 
my care and solicitude to all parts of the world, but I 
bear for America a very special affection. . . . Your 
country is great with a future full of hope. Your 
nation is free. Your Government is strong, etc. 



This is the way American citizens are flattered, and 
the dust fully blinds many eyes. We ai'e familiar 
with this kind of glorification of the liberty of our re- 
public. We do not fully credit them when papal 
prelates utter their compliments and their jiatronizing 
platitudes about the institutions of the United States. 
We cannot forget Rome's dogmas, Rome's logic, 
Rome's record, Rome's diplomacy, and Rome's sub- 
tlety in all the past ; nor can we ignore the inevitable 
trend of her administration. May heaven forgive us 
if we inflict any injustice. We have sincerely tried 
to appreciate all they have said ; but we cannot see 
how an intelligent logical person can harmonize their 
politico-ecclesiastical dogmas with the platitudes with 
which they seek to disabuse American minds. If the 
fault is ours we must rest under the aspersion, until 
the prelates of Rome shall have so lived down their 
long and oft confirmed record as to fui"nish a rational 
basis for confidence. 



Can Rome Change? 339 

"We ask if there are not clearly-defined utterances 
from high Roman Catholic authorities which justify 
us in withholding confidence ? Yes. Pope Leo XIII. 
himself states the attitude of the Church on this ques- 
tion in a way that excites the deepest distrust. He 
says, in his late Encyclical on Liberty, June 20, 1888 : 

Although in the extraordinary condition of these 
times the Church usually acquiesces in certain modern 
liberties, not hecaitse sJie prefers them in theinselves, 
but because she judges it expedient to permit them, 

IN BETTER TIMES SHE WOULD USE HEE OWN LIBERTY. 

Yes, doubtless. This apparently quiet utterance 
has a deep meaning. "In better times" — that is, 
when the Church possesses the power, " she will use 
her own liberty." Will American citizens giv^e her 
this supreme power? Answer, ye loyal sons of 
America ! 

He speaks in one place of " the excesses of an un- 
bridled intellect.' ' Every son of Rome is hridled in 
intellect ; and what excesses of bridled intellect we 
have in the example of Alexander VL, in the St. Bar- 
tholomew massacre, in the slaughter of the Walden- 
sians and the Huguenots ; in the burning of Latimer, 
Cranmer, John Rogers, etc. ; in the tragic, heart-rend- 
ing scenes of the Inquisition ! If such the excesses of 
bridled intellects, directed by Rome, let the intellect 
of the world be '^«^bridled. Do Bishop Spalding and 



340 KoMx\.NisM vs. The Public School System. 

tlie founders of the new Catliolic University propose 
to throw off the bridle of the papacy ? No. They 
are still to be Pope Leo's nags, bridled and driven by 
him. And they propose to gather the children of 
papists into parochial schools, that the Konian hier- 
arch may bridle them and drive tliem along the dusty, 
deeply rutted paths of the papacy in abject submission 
to the dictation of foreign ecclesiastics. Thus curbed 
and reined, they propose in due time to thrust these 
children and youth upon us as American citizens, 
with their eyes turned askant to Pome, obeying every 
look and nod of the pontiff' whose lust for dominion 
covets the submission of these United States to his 
dictation. 

Such is the Encyclical. "We join with the Inde- 
pendent in saying, " It is really not an essay about 
liberty, but an essay against liberty of thought and 
speech and worship." 

The reason why we have introduced this latest papal 
Encyclical is that the American people may have the 
latest Roman Catholic utterance of the highest author- 
ity in regard to lilierty, that they may also see that 
Pome has not essentially changed, and that they may 
know how utterly disqualified is the Poman Cath- 
olic Church to train the children, or any part of the 
children of this free repTiblic. The more of them she 
trains in her domnas the more difficult will be the 



Can Rome Change? 341 

work of molding, establishing, and conducting the 
affairs of this repubhc. 

Revolt. 

Said a Catholic layman in a recent article ' in the 
Independent^^ " There is at present a deep stirring of 
thought among Roman CathoKc laymen, which is 
none the less earnest because, for obvious reasons, it 
cannot voice itseK exteriorly. And this opinion is 
the result of careful consideration, on the part of one 
who has had special and exceptional opportunities of 
knowing the ojDinions of both priests and laymen of 
the Roman Catholic Church." But he says no jDublic 
expression of opinion at all at variance with the gov- 
erning powers of the Church is tolerated. He thinks, 
however, it must yet break out into utterance. He 
further adds, " How deeply the papal questions of the 
hour are trying men's souls will never be known until 
the day of account. . . . There is as deep an agita- 
tion in the Roman Catholic Church to-day as there 
has ever been. The fire smoulders ; when and where 
the flames will break forth God only knoweth. But 
for those who desire truth to prevail there is a terrible 
responsibility, if they 'break the bruised reed or 
quench the smoking flax.' " 

The New York Herald, edited by a gentleman of 

* August 9, 1888. 



342 Romanism vs. The Public School System. 

the Boman Catholic faith, and of princely generosity 
to the poor of Ireland, said (October 14, 1880), " The 
people have an opportunity to see just what sort of 
an institution the (Roman) Catholic Church is in pol- 
itics, and to understand what a farce it would be to 
pretend that free government can continue where it 
is permitted to touch its hand to politics. . . . This is 
a Protestant country, and the American people are a 
Protestant people. They tolerate all religions, even 
Mohammedanism ; but there are some points in these 
tolerated religions to wdiich they object and will not 
permit, and the vice of the (Roman) Catholic Church, 
by which it has rotted out the political institutions 
of all countries where it exists, which has made it like 
a flight of locusts every-where, will be properly re- 
buked here when it fairly shows its purpose." The 
article added an assurance that the Herald was " in 
the fullest possible sympathy with American ojiinion 
on this important tojjic," and a few days later (Oc- 
tober 30, 1880), the editor, recurring to this subject, 
wrote, " In all it then said the Herald has the 
sympathy of many loyal and devoted (Roman) Cath- 
olics." Will not such sentiments soon find fuller and 
freer utterances among Romanists ? 

On Christmas day, 1881, Pope Leo XIIL, address- 
ing his cardinals, sent to the Christian world a greet- 
ing which contained the following utterances : 



Can Rome Change? 343 

It is with deep regret and profound anguisli that 
we behold the impiety with which Protestants propa- 
gate freely, and with impunity, their heretical doc- 
trines, attacking the most august and the most sacred 
dogmas of our very holy religion, even here at Rome, 
the center of the faith and the seat of the universal 
and infallible teacher of the Church ; here, where the 
integrity of the faith should be protected and the 
honor of the only true rehgion should be secured by 
the most efficient means. 

It is with sorrow of heart that I see the temples of 
heterodoxy multiplying under the protection of the 
laws, and liberty given in Rome to destroy the most 
beautiful and most precious unity of the Italians, their 
religious unity, by the mad efforts of those who arro- 
gate to themselves the imjoious mission of estabhshing 
a new Church in Italy, not based on the stone placed 
by Jesus Christ as the indestructible foundation of his 
heavenly edifice. 

Theory of the Papacy. 
It is an old dogma of Rome, never changed or 
modified, that both the ecclesiastical and temporal 
authority, exercised and still claimed by the popes, is 
invested in them by divine appointment. In support 
of this doctrine they appeal first to the ]^ew Testa- 
ment, and next to the tradition of the Church, handed 
down, as they claim, in unbroken continuity from the 
apostles to the present time. According to their the- 
ory, the apostle Peter was indicated by Christ as 
superior to the rest of the apostles in faith and spirit- 
ual discernment, and as the one invested with special 



34:4: E.OMANISM vs. The Public School System. 

])i'e-eminence. The Clnirch, too, wliicli Peter was to 
found and preside over (at Rome, as they claim), was 
predestined to a superiority among otlier churches, 
and St. Peter's personal superiority w^as to be vested 
in perj)etuity in his successors at Rome. 

Such is the theory at the basis of the exclusive 
authority exercised by the Roman Catholic Church. 
The evidence on which these claims rests is very am- 
biguous and conflicting, most of it of more than doubt- 
ful genuineness, and scattered through a period of so 
much obscurity that the conclusions reached, after the 
greatest research, are feebly conjectural, too indefinite 
to constitute the basis for the monstrous assumptions 
on which the papacy is predicated and acts. But 
Roman Catholics have accepted the basis as sufficiently 
genuine, and on these premises, logically, unblushingly, 
and always, they plead supreme authority and power. 
How, then, can Rome change in her essential char- 
acter ? 

Popery is wholly 

Out of Sympathy with Modern Ideas and 
Pkogress. 

The evidence abounds. That enliglitened statesman, 
Count Cavour, prime minister of Victor Emmanuel, 
showed a thorough comprehension of the genius of 
Romanism for the repression of free thought, and de- 



Can Eome Cuaxge i . 345 

clarecl that lie would seek tlie overthrow of the papal 
dominion, not by fire and fagot, the favorite weapons 
of Home for long ages, but by the introduction of 
modern improvements. He said : 

I will attack Rome by railways, by the electric tele- 
graph, by agricultural improvements, by establishing 
national banks, by gratuitous education on a large 
scale, by civil marriages, by the secularization of con- 
ventual property, by the enactment of a model code 
embodying the most lenient laws in Europe, and by 
the suppression of corporeal punishment. I will place 
the spirit of modern expansion face to face with the 
old spirit of obscuration ; I am quite certain the for- 
mer will triumpli. I will establish a blockade of new 
civilization around Rome. If she undergoes a modi- 
fication she will come to us ; if she remains unchanged 
she will, by constant comparison, become so disgusted 
with her state of inferiority that she will throw her- 
self into our arms to escape destruction. 

This policy has extended in Italy, and internal im- 
provements are visible ; but the noble administrator 
passed away in the midst of his labors, and the new 
policy has felt the loss of his vigorous hand. 

Reform and PuoaRESs Handicapped by Recent 

Action. 

The world has never seen organic Romanism so far 
removed from the infiuence of modern progress as 
since the Yatican Council of 1869-18Y0. Prior to 
that time a collective infallibility was indeed ascribed 



346 KoMANisM vs. The Public School System. 

to tlie pope, but his personal official infallibility 
had never been formally proclaimed as a dogma of 
the Church. Heretofore all matters of dispute in 
regard to doctrine and ecclesiastical affairs were settled 
by an Ecumenical Council, which was the supreme 
tribunal. As a typical illustration may be cited the 
action of the Council of Constance (141tl— 1418), depos- 
ing three popes from their positions. That council 
held every thing in its own hands, claimiii^ and exer- 
cising supreme jurisdiction in matters of faith and 
administration, to which all parties, popes included, 
must submit in obedience. Pope Martin V. himself 
formally assented to and indorsed the attitude of that 
body. 

The Council of Trent (1545-1563), if it did not 
create, confirmed and established the essential features 
of the modern Romish Church, giving a stamp of per- 
manency to some tilings before more or less problem- 
atical. Since then the Romish Church has rested 
her dogmas, laws, and regulations upon the decisions 
of that council. The Church, dating from Trent, has 
at least one point of difference from the Church ante- 
Trent. The strong reformation current within the 
Church, in the prior period, was expelled by the action 
of the Council of Trent, and the Church has since 
borne the stamp of an anti-reformation character. 
" Ever since," says Uhlhorn (Das rumische Council), 



Can Eome Change? 3i7 

" lier course lias been onward to a more perfect suppres- 
sion and elimination of all reformatory and evangelical 
elements. Out of tlie mediseval Catholic Church has 
issued the specifically Eomish Church, and the direc- 
tion of her development is set forth by the statement 
that the Catholic character retreats more and more be- 
hind the specifically Romish." 

Uhlhorn allows that there has been a species of im- 
provement in the Catholic Church since the Council 
of Trent, such as in the general character of her clergy 
and a correction of the more scandalous abuses, and 
there has been a small measure of progress. But 
there has been a retrograde in dogmas, as seen in the 
authoritative sanction of two such dogmas as the im- 
maculate conception of the Yirgin Mary and the infal- 
libility of the pope (both during the pontificate of 
Pius IX.). 

By the recent Vatican Council the most extreme 
ultramontane theory was established, the jjope being 
raised to the character of an absolute infallible mon- 
arch, without peer, rival, or associate in authority, to 
whom even an Ecumenical Council stands only in an ad- 
visory relation, with no power to amend his decrees nor 
even to convene for advisory purposes except as sum- 
moned by his mandate. What more explicit asser- 
tion of unqualified sovereignty than the text of the 
doirma : 



3i8 Romanism 6'6'. The Public School System. 

If any sliall say that the Koman pontiff has the of- 
fice merely of inspection or direction, and not full and 
sti'prerne power of jurisdiction over the universal 
Churchy not only in things which belong Xo faith and 
morals^ but also to those which relate to the discipline 
and government of the Church spread throughout the 
world, or assert that he possesses merely the principal 
part and not all the fullness of this supreme power 
. . . let him he anathema. 

The Vatican decree of papal infallibility declares : 

. . . "We teach and define that it is a dogma divinely 
revealed tliat the Roman pontiff, when he speaks ex 
cathedra — that is, when in discharge of the oftice of 
pastor and doctor of all Christians, by virtue of his su- 
preme apostolic authority, he defines a doctrine regard- 
ing faith or morals to be held by the universal Church, 
by the divine assistance promised to him in blessed 
Peter — is possessed of that infallibility with which the 
divine Redeemer willed that his Clmrch should be en- 
dowed for defining doctrine regarding faith or morals; 
and, therefore, such definitions of the Roman pontiff 
are irreformable of thennselves^ and not from the con- 
sent of the Church. 

Since the aforesaid declaration was made, the most 
eminent Roman Catholic prelates have interpreted it as 
having a well-nigh universal breadth, bringing witliin 
the scope of papal infallibility, for decision by his 
short ex cathedra process, matters of science and his- 
tory, if the pope is pleased to regard them as related 
to faith and morals. Thus it is proposed to supersede 
the old processes of reasoning, examination, and in- 



Can Kome Change? 349 

vestigation, and receive the oracular decision of the 
Roman pontiff. Eeceptiveness and docility are to 
supplant individual thought and pains-taking inquiry. 
How does such a theory comport with modern prog- 
ress ? 

Cardinal Manning defines the Vatican dogma as 
maintaining that infalhbility extends to all that is op- 
posed to revelation, to all that is scandalous or offen- 
sive to pious ears, and to all matters pertaining to the 
proper custody of Catholic belief. He says : * 

It extends to certain truths of natural science, as, 
for example, the existence of substance, and to truths 
of natural reason, such as that the soul is immaterial, 
that it is " the form of the body," and the like. It 
extends, also, to certain truths of the supernatural 
order which are not revealed, as the authenticity of 
certain texts or versions of the holy Scripture. There 
are truths of mere human history which are not re- 
vealed, without which the deposit of the faith cannot 
be taught or guarded in its integrity. For instance, 
that St. Peter was Bishop of Rome, that tiie Council of 
Trent and the Council of the Vatican are ecumenical 
—that is, legitimately celebrated and confirmed ; that 
Pius ^ IX. is the successor of St. Peter by legitimate 
election. . . . That there is an ultimate judge in such 
matters of history as affect the truths of revelation is 
a dogma of faith. 

In pleading for papal autocracy and infallibility the 
argument, from need, is very prominent with Catholic 

*7%e Vatican Cou7icil audits Definitions. 1871. 



350 Romanism vs. The Public School System. 

writers. They have this ridiculously short cut : '* An 
infallible tribunal is needed ; therefore there is an in- 
fallible tribunal ; " or as Mr. J. II. Newman* puts it : 
"The absolute need of spiritual supremacy is at present 
the strongest of arguments in favor of the fact of its 
supply." 

HEREAFTER, IF ANY PRIESTS OB 
PRELATES OF ROME DESIRE TO II A VE 
THE CHURCH MAKE ANY MODIFICA- 
TION OR ANY INNOVATION IN DOC- 
TRINE, OR CHANGE IN HER ESSEN- 
TIALLY ROMISH POLICY, THEY ARE 
UTTERLY POWERLESS 

This is evident, because by the absurd action of the 
notorious Vatican Council they have surrendared that 
power to the pope, giving to him full and absolute 
authority in such matters. But the pope cannot j)ro- 
claira any doctrine contrary to the teachings of the 
Council of Trent, because that was an Ecumenical 
Council, and the dogmas of Ecumenical Councils are 
held to be infallible. There is, therefore, no chance 
for any progress or essential reform. The way is 
blocked. The ratchet is set. Nothing but a convul- 
sive upheaval can break up and destroy the iron 
clamps Mdiich now bind the papacy. 

* Essay on Development. 



Can Rome Change? 351 

Professor George E. Fisher, D.D., "^ says : 

Tlie proclamation of tlie poi3e's infallibility in re- 
ligious doctrine and in ethical teaching has raised, as 
far as we can now see, a new barrier in the way of 
Christian union. It sharpens the antagonism between 
the Pi^otestant and the Roman Catholic position. The 
boundary between the two religions is no longer in a 
degree vague and fluctuating. An absolutely tangible 
issue is presented. As long as this dogma of papal 
infallibility is upheld we can see no room either for a 
gradual reformation of doctrine in the Roman com- 
munion or for a reunion of the two sundered branches 
of the Western Church. 

In this retrograde movement in the Romish Church, 
handicapping all progress, modification, and reform, the 
Catholic prelates of the United States, as we have seen, 
acted a prominent part — a relatively larger and less 
enlightened part than the prelates of the old countries 
of papal Europe — in the Vatican Council. So hope- 
less is it to look for any material modification and im- 
provement of the essential character of Romanism in 
the United States at the close of the nineteenth century. 

In the light of these facts, let American citizens 
seriously ponder the hostile attitude of the Roman 
Catholic Church toward our public school system, and 
her pernicious influence upon the future prospects 
and citizenship of the multitude of children trained in 
her parochial schools. 

* In the Congregationaiist. 



THE LIQUOR PROBLEM IN ALL AGES, 

By Rev. DANIEL DOBCHESTEB, D.D. 

A New Edition, Eevised, and Including the Newest Phases of the 

Temperance Movement, from 1883 to 1888. 728 Pages Octavo, 

Beautifully Bound, and Printed with Large Type. 

Price, $2 50, Sent by Mail on Keceipt of 

Price. Subscription Agents Desired. 

COMMENDATIONS OF THE NEW EDITION, 1888. 

The Boston Journal said : " Dr. Daniel Dorchester's work upon The 
Liquor Pi'ohkm in All Ages, revised, and in a supplementary chapter 
brought down to the year 1888, presents a valuable account of liquor legis- 
lation and other efforts made toward temperance in this country and 
abi'oad. The tables of statistics, reports, and other evidence are of great 
use in estimating the growth of the temperance movement. Doctor Dor- 
chester's historical accuracy is well known, and his enthusiasm upon this 
subject enables him to comment with much force upon encouraging facts." 

i//'.s. J. Ellen Foster, President of the W. C. T. U. of Iowa, said: "I 
thankfully welcome the new edition of your great work, The Liquor 
Problem in All Ages. The volume of temperance sentiment in our age 
and country is so great; its crystallizations in society, in law, and in pol- 
itics are so many and varied ; its related issues in our changing civiliza- 
tion are so multiform, that we do well to study foundation pnnciples and 
historic data. In this I have been greatly helped by your book. I feel 
the bed-rock of truth under my feet as I read its pages. Surely, one needs 
to find the 'sure foundations' in these troublous times. Tlie author has, 
with great care in detail, brought the work down to the last acts of this 
Drama of Progress, and with characteristic judicial poise set forth this 
many-sii-led contest of the powers of darkness with the ever-rising sun 
of truth. I'd like, if it were possible, to turn book-agent, and go from 
house to house with this wonderful volume." 

Rev. Albert H. I'lnmb, I>. Z>., said : " The new edition of TJie Liquor 
Problem is greatly increased in value. The mass of recent information 
packed into the long supplement makes the volume complete as a com- 
pondiuiu of the freshest and weightiest facts up to the present year. I 
liave turned to it again and again for needed implements in temperance 
work. The entire book, with its histories, its diagi-ams, its tables, its 
voluminous testimonies and powerful nasoning, is a characteristic mon- 
ument to the patient research and judicial wisdom of its industrious and 
able author." 

The Watchman said: "Dr. Dorchester's eminence as a statistician 
assures his readers that where facts are concerned he speaks with care, 
and is unassailable. An important feature of the book is eleven colored 
I iiagrams strikingly illustrating the economic aspects of intemperance and 
its relative progress to the population in the British Isles and in the 
United States. It is a storehouse of facts and principles worthy to be 
meditated on by thoughtful readers and serviceable to temperance work- 
ers. It is a handsome as well as useful volume, copiously illustrated." 

PHILLIPS & HUNT, Publishers, 805 Broadway. N. Y. 



Christianity in the Ijmb ^tates 



FROM THE 



pirst Settlement dou/p to tl^e present Jime. 

By DANIEL DORCHESTER, D.D. 



800 pages. Svo. , with Maps, etc. 
In Cloth, - - $4 50. Half ^Morocco, - - $6 OO. 

PHILLIPS & HUNT, 805 Broadway, New York City, and 
CRANSTON & STOWE, Cincinnati, O. 



com:]me]vi"s. 

The Watchman says: "The author has placed all interested in the 
study of religion in this country under great obligations. The phin of 
the work contemplates a succinct .iccount of every considerable religious 
movement in our land since the discovery of America. . . . The reader 
will be especially impressed with the impartiality of the chapters recnunt- 
iug the origin and growth of the Roman Catholic Chuich in this country. 
. . . He seems to have risen to the iiliilosophieal conccjition which was 
foreign to the mind of D'Aubigne, and which is imperfectly perceived by 
the average controversialist." 

The Western Christian Advocate nays: "It is the work of an investi- 
gator, and may be made to do invaluable service in the hands of students 
of the religious history of our country. In all respects the work is 
wort ly of the highest commendation." 

The Eev. Philip Schaft', D.D., LL.D., says: '■'■Christianity in the 
United States is a most valuable contribution to our American church 
history. It more than tills the place for our generation which Dr. Baird's 
book did for his." 

The Rev. Joseph Cook says: "You have made what ouojlit to be a 
great and growing circle of readers profoundly your debtors bv tl.is con- 
tributi'>n to the study of the wiiys of Providence in the education of the 
foremost Christian republic of all time." 

The Independent says: ^'■Christianity in the United States, bj' Dr. Dor- 
chester, is a really great book. I have looked over it (in proof sheets) 
and am atnazed at tlie thoroughness and accuracy which characterize this 
stupendous undertaking. It is a perfect mine of information, und I am 
glad that so competent and careful a man as Dr. Dorchester has had the 
courage and patience to work out such a splendid result." 

The Christian Union says: '■ Thoroughly fair-minded, it is full of facts, 
which, judged from the stand-point of the secular reader, are of the greatest 
importance and interest. . . . The volume tills its niche, and will be of serv- 
ice in popularizing a knowledge of the past and present of our churches." 

The Examiner (Baptist) says: "The history of various Christian bod- 
ies in (he United States is more candid, comprehensive, and accurate than 
we should know how to find in any other single book." 



THE WHY OF METHODISM. 

By DANIEL DORCHESTER, D.D. 

16mo. 'T'O cents. 

PHILLIPS & HMT, - 805 Broadway, New York Oity. 



"WIIA.T IS SJ^IJD OF IT. 

The Boston Daily Traveler s,a,y&: "Dr. Dorchester has made clear to 
thou.sands of the great Church of whiuh he is one of the leadh:^ clergy- 
men the reasons for theii- own faith which many have perhaps only dimly 
seen. Methodist Episcopal polity is a puzzle to outsiders, and is not 
always clear to insiders. Both these classes will find Dr. Dorchester's 
volume of great interest." 

The California Christian Advocate says : " It is tlie most powerful and 
convincing argument on Methodism ever issued, and it is in a form so 
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The Rev. W. F. Warren, D.D., LL.D., President of Boston University, 
says: "It ought to be placed in the Reading Course of the 'Oxford 
League ;' also, in the proposed course for the class-leaders of our Church." 

The Michigan Christian Advocate says : " The view is by no means nar- 
row and technical, but is a comprehensive and intelligent survey of Meth- 
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and will be especially appropriate ia our Sunday School libraries." 

The Northern Christian Advocate says: 'Dr. Dorchester worthily 
represents his Church. . . . The book is well worthy of a wide circula- 
tion." 

The Peninsula Methodist says : A most opportune and valuable volume. 
. . . This is another book that should be in every Methodist home and in 
every library under Methodist control." 

The Central Christian Advocate says: "The chnpter on 'Polity' is of 
especial value. The pastors will do well to place this volume' in the 
hands of persons who have rec-ntly joined the Church and those about 
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T/ie Christian Advocate says : We give this little book, in its statements 
rmd figures, the strongest commendation, and wish that it could be cir- 
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T7ie Methodist Review says : "Viewed as a brief and popular presenta- 
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the inference, and the polity of Methodism." 



THE ?\mm OF I^ELIGIOUS FI|OGI[ESS, 

By DANIEL DORCHESTER, D.D. 

603 Pages. Price, $2. 

PHILLIPS & HUNT, 805 Broadway, New York City. 



COM.M:E3SrTS. 

This is pre-eminently a book for the times. — ChvMian Guardian. 

Whoever tal\es up this book intending only to glance at a few of the 
statistics will probably he mistaken, for, having begun to read, he will 
■wish to keep on to the end. This at least was our experience, notwith- 
standing the work is so largely one of statistics, by which we are not 
easily entranced. The reader is impressed with tlie great care taken in 
preparing the computations, the evident candor with which they have 
been prepared, and the magnitude of the problem to which they have 
been applied. — llie Watchman. 

A remarkable book. Nothing issued from the press in recent years 
can surpass it in interest for the Christian Church. . . . The book can- 
not fail to have an extensive sale among all Christian denominations. 
No brief notice can do justice to its contents. Its pages must be studied. 
Its ciiapter on missions is worth many times the price of the book. — 
Methodist Mission Rooms. 

One of the best books that has appeared recently. — Western Christian 
Advocate. 

Dr. Dorchet^ter deserves much consideration as a collator of facts and 
a cl"se reasoner upon them. . . . The general result of his reasoning is 
instructively re-assuring. . . . As the main value of the tables necessa- 
rily resides in their accuracy it is interesting to note the unwearied pains 
with which Dr. Dorchester has supplied Iiimself with the freshest and 
most authentic returns, and the skill with which — when such a course 
was the only one — he has freshened outworn estimates into what may 
fairly Ik- taken as present probabilities. . . . We hesitate not to say that, 
in our judgment, this is the most important contribution which has thus 
far been made to a subject grave and full of interest. Every clergyman 
needs the pluck which such a volume is calculated to breed. — Congrega- 
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If any one doubts the permanency of the Christian religion, or imag- 
ines tliat it is to be swept a«ay by a few blatant infidels, he has only to 
turn to the pages of this valuable volume to be re-assured. — New York 
Evening hxpress. 

We scarcely remember to have read a book so well sustained through- 
out,_ and containing so nnich clear thinking and so many valuable facts 
in similar compass. Let every minister read it, and every despairing 
Christian use ii as a tonic, and especially should those who have to con- 
tend with skeptics and revilers fortify themselves by the mastery of its 
contents. — Rev. .J. M. JSuchleij, D.D. 

The book embodies a solid array of facts, the force of which cannot be 
evaded. — The Methodist. 



